First Year
by Starhawk
Summary: Political discord between Kerova and Earth forces the Astro team to officially disband. The clash echoes in the personal conflicts between the Rangers on KO35. First Saga 6.
1. First Year

_Disclaimer: The phrase "Saban Owns The Power Rangers" shall henceforth be abbreviated as "SOTPR". I just wanted to clear that up early on so there's no miscommunication. Additionally, I should mention that I like fuzzy bunnies. It's not relevant, but there it is._

_Author's Note: For anyone interested in backstory, there's some at the Aerie's [Storytime][1]._

**

First Year  
by Starhawk

**

The door was already open. Carlos frowned, glancing down at the square of paper in his hand. Room 304, in Ladd Hall, AGU's only chemical-free dorm. This was his room... so why was the door open?

He pushed his way inside, dropping his duffel bag on the floor before he glanced around. The single lofted bed was covered with a comforter, but the two bunk beds on the opposite wall were bare. Carlos briefly weighed the pros and cons, and the privacy of the top bunk seemed to outweigh the inconvenience of its location.

"Hey, bro." Gabe's voice came from the doorway directly behind him. "Where do you want this stuff?"

Carlos shoved his duffel bag out of the way with his foot and took a step forward, allowing his brother to enter. "Anywhere," he said, taking a second look at the room. The desk under the loft bed was clearly taken, leaving one desk at either end of the bunk beds. Carlos mentally chose the one closest to the door, where his computer screen would be angled into the room rather than toward the open door.

"Going for the top bunk?" Gabe asked, setting his boxes down in front of the desk on the far wall. "Don't take this desk," he added, without waiting for an answer. He gave the top drawer a tug, but nothing happened. "Drawer's broken."

"This one's mine," Carlos informed him, swinging his laptop carrying case off his shoulder and setting it on the desk by the door. Suddenly wary, he started checking drawers, but they all slid smoothly enough.

"I'll go get the rest of the stuff," Gabe offered, pushing in the drawers on the bureau he'd been checking. "This one looks good."

Carlos glanced at the bureau his brother had pointed out, then at the one on the other side of the room between the loft and the closet. Whoever had taken the loft had a desk and a bureau underneath it already, but the other furniture was only loosely associated with the two bunk beds. Still, if he had taken the desk at the near end of the bunks, it seemed he ought to leave the desk and bureau at the far end for his other roommate. That meant that his bureau would be the one by the closet, across the room from his bed and desk.

"Did you find the room all right?" his mother was asking Gabe when he joined them out on the curb. "What does it look like?"

Carlos rolled his eyes. "Go in and look at it, Mom. I'll wait out here."

"No, that's all right," she insisted. "I'm sure Gabe can stay here with your stuff while we go inside."

He caught Gabe's eye and exchanged amused glances with his brother. His mother had a knack for sounding accommodating while actually getting exactly what she wanted. Grabbing his backpack and a couple of storage crates, Carlos left his mom to pick up bedding and posters as he led the way up two flights of stairs.

"Oh, this is nice," she said, on following him into the room. "A little small, maybe..."

"It's a forced triple," Carlos reminded her. "There were only supposed to be two people sharing the room."

"Will someone be moving out, then?" His mother lifted his pillows, sheets, and comforter up to the top bunk without even asking. "As they find more room?"

"I don't think they're going to 'find' more room until people start leaving at the end of the semester," Carlos said dryly. "We might get down to a double in the spring, but I think we're stuck with each other until then. How did you know I wanted the top bunk?"

"It's a mom thing," she replied, with a tinge of fond distraction in her voice. "That's your bureau, then, over by the closet?"

"It looks that way," Carlos agreed. "I'm going to go get some more stuff."

"I'm coming." His mom took one last look around the room. "Better to have you boys carrying things up all those stairs than to have me doing it one pillow at a time."

Gabe was standing on the curb with his arms crossed, looking twice as menacing as the security officers letting cars into the little residential road to unload. Five years of martial arts training had only enhanced the "don't mess with me" look that seemed to come naturally to his younger brother.

"Expecting someone to steal my clothes?" Carlos teased, following his brother's gaze. The line of cars had not become any shorter in the time they'd been inside, for each had to stop by the security officer and receive a temporary unloading permit before they were allowed to proceed. The procession in could only move as quickly as the trickle of cars heading out, and the wait while those in front emptied out their vehicles was a long one.

Before Gabe could answer, an old Volkswagon Rabbit caught Carlos' eye. Sitting about three cars back in the line for the quad was a little yellow car that looked too familiar to be real. He squinted at it, trying without success to make out the driver's face.

"I thought I saw Ashley's car," Gabe explained, echoing his own instinctive reaction. "Someone over there has a VW just like hers."

"Yeah," Carlos said slowly. "It does look like hers." It couldn't be, of course; she was offplanet... but the similarity was eerie.

"Let's get the rest of your things inside," his mother reminded him. "Other people will need this space to unload."

"Right." Carlos clapped his brother's shoulder and added, "Looks like it's you and me again, bro. Mom's taking over the easy job."

"I knew you wanted me to come for a reason," Gabe grumbled, hefting another set of storage crates.

"Well, it wasn't for your good looks and charming personality," Carlos informed him. He wrestled his stereo off of the ground and trailed his brother into the dorm.

"Why not?" Gabe asked over his shoulder as he started up the stairs. "It's not like you have any of your own. I thought you were feeling the lack."

"The only thing I'm feeling is the incredible amount of time it's taking you to climb these stairs," Carlos retorted. "I think you're getting slower in your old age."

"Look who's talking!" Gabe exclaimed, picking up his pace. "I just didn't want you to feel bad about being left behind!"

"I'm tripping over your heels, man. There's no way you could leave me behind."

"Yeah?" Gabe leaned into the corner and took the second flight of stairs two at a time. It was no mean feat with his arms full of crates, and Carlos' stereo was unwieldy enough to make keeping up almost impossible. 

Nonetheless, he managed to arrive close enough behind that he was right there when Gabe looked over his shoulder, and that was all that counted. "Told you," he said, trying not to sound too breathless. "Nice try, though."

"Next time you get to carry the crates and we'll see how well you do," Gabe told him, but he too was panting.

"Like this was any easier," Carlos shot back, setting the stereo system up on top of his bureau. "You try running up the stairs with this thing!"

Gabe didn't even bother replying, just took off out the door and down the stairs again. Carlos rolled his eyes, but his adrenaline was up too and he supposed there were worse ways to burn it off than running up and down the stairs. If nothing else, they'd get his stuff moved in faster.

In the confusion and hurried chaos of shifting his things into the dorm, he forgot about the yellow car for the better part of half an hour. When he stepped out of his room thirty minutes later, though, he almost ran Jeff Hammond down on his way to the drinking fountain. Ashley's brother carried a laundry basket that was full of distinctly feminine clothes, and yellow-laced inline skates rode on top of the pile.

"Jeff!" For a moment, he drew a total blank. "What are you doing here?"

"Thieving," Jeff replied, straight-faced. "There's a lot of good stuff to be found on freshman move-in day. You should give it a try."

From somewhere behind Carlos, he could hear movement followed by his brother's voice. "I knew there was something in this for me. I'll be back in a few minutes, bro. Have the getaway car ready."

"Hello, Jeff." Their mother stepped out into the hallway as well, maneuvering around her sons and ignoring their sarcasm. "We've done as much as Carlos will let us do in his room--can we help you move things in?"

"I'm actually helping my sister right now," he said, switching from wry to polite in the blink of an eye. "Anything you feel like carrying upstairs would be great, but don't feel obligated. Even with the amount she packs, we'll get it all up here eventually."

"Of course we'll help," their mom assured Jeff. "Are all of Ashley's things unloaded?"

"Yeah," Jeff said, shifting the laundry basket to get a better grip on it. "Her stuff is right next to the walkway to the main door. You'll probably see her there; she was going down while I was coming up a minute ago."

Carlos was dying to ask what Ashley was doing at Angel Grove University two months after she'd left for KO-35 with Andros. Unfortunately, now didn't seem like the best time to interrogate her brother about it, so he just followed his mom and his brother out to the curb. They didn't pass Ashley on the stairs, and neither was she waiting out by the curb, but Jeff's directions made her things easy enough to locate.

They had forgotten to ask which room was hers, but Jeff was waiting down the hall for them when they emerged from the stairwell. He waved, and one at a time the three of them squeezed into room 314. "Ashley picked that side," he said, unnecessarily since only one side of the room had anything in it.

"She got a double," Carlos muttered, stepping out of the room to allow Gabe to enter. "Why don't they put girls into forced triples?"

"They do," Jeff assured him. "Sometimes." He helped Carlos' mom settle her load at the end of Ashley's bed, then added, "It's just that guys ignore each other when they don't get along. Girls get vicious. In terms of dorm injury rates, it's better to put three guys into a small space than three girls."

"Carlos!" A familiar voice greeted him from the other end of the hallway, and Carlos turned to see Ashley coming toward him with a duffel bag over her shoulder and a cardboard box in her arms. "I thought I was going to get here before you; you're never up this early!"

"I didn't think you were going to get here at all," Carlos told her, taking the box from her and letting her enter the room first. Gabe moved into the hallway to make room for them, and Carlos put his box down before turning back to stare at Ashley. "What are you doing in Angel Grove?"

"I transferred," she said easily, avoiding the question. "Why spend all that money on gas when I can get a perfectly good education right here?"

"I thought you had to actually attend a school before you could transfer out of it," Gabe remarked from the doorway.

"When you have a three-nine GPA, you can pretty much do whatever you want," Jeff told him.

"There must still be a few things out by the curb," Carlos' mom offered. "Why don't Gabe and I go pick those up while you three catch up a little?"

"Thanks, Mrs. Simione." Ashley gave her a bright smile. "I don't think there's much left, but if there's anything you can't get I'll be down in just a minute."

"Don't worry about it," his mom said firmly. "You stay right here. Give Carlos some decorating tips, if you have time. Goodness knows he could use them."

Carlos just sighed, and Ashley laughed as his family left the three of them alone for a few minutes. "She didn't think much of the Aquitian stuff, huh?"

"How did you hear about that?" Carlos wanted to know. "And where have you been?"

"Yeah," Jeff interjected. "I sent them outside after I passed you on the stairs, and they came back before you. How did you manage that?"

"It's called a bathroom break," Ashley informed him.

"That's not what I meant," Carlos interrupted. "The last I heard, you were planning to stay on KO-35 indefinitely. What brought you back to Earth?"

Ashley hesitated, her cheerful expression dimming just a little. "I'd rather not talk about it right now," she said at last. "It's not a big thing, it's just... I have a lot of unpacking to do."

"Sure," Carlos agreed, taken aback. Something Ashley didn't want to talk about? That had to be a first. He glanced over at Jeff, wondered where Andros was. "Can I help at all?"

"You can tell me where your room is so I can come visit you," she said with a smile. "Are you in this dorm?"

"No, he just hangs out here waiting for random friends to show up so he can put his family to work moving them in," Jeff told her.

Ashley stuck out her tongue at him, and Jeff made the "whatever" sign at her. It was clearly her gesture, especially when he did it, and Ashley rolled her eyes. "Why did I bring you?" she asked rhetorically.

"So that I can find out which room your friends are in without you having to ask," Jeff answered. "He's in 304, down the hall."

"With two other people I haven't met yet," Carlos agreed. "Don't be surprised if a stranger answers the door."

"Same here," Ashley said, a little apprehensively. "My roommate's someone named Missy, and I've only spoken to her twice."

"You spoke to her?" Carlos asked, surprised.

Ashley gave him an odd look. "Didn't you get a letter with your roommate's address and phone number in it?"

"Yeah. So? What was I going to say to them? 'Hi, I'll be your roommate. I hope you don't have anything against aliens, because you're probably going to be seeing a lot of them this semester.'"

Ashley looked amused. "Are you dating more than one, now?"

"She has friends," Carlos told her. "Did you call *your* roommate?"

"Of course," she said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I called once and she called once. Mostly just to talk about what we were bringing; we figured we'd talk about our schedules and our policy on visiting friends once we got here."

"Your policy?" Carlos echoed. "You're going to have a policy on visiting friends?"

"This is another reason girls can't do forced triples," Jeff put in. "Everything has to be decided in committee."

"Delivery," Gabe's voice said from the hallway, and Carlos went over to take it from him so he wouldn't have to try and fit into the room. "This is a small double," his brother remarked, passing the box their mom had carried in as well.

"It'll seem larger once they've unpacked," Jeff offered.

"Well, we'll leave you to it," Carlos' mom said, peering into the room. "Unless we can do anything else to help, Ashley?"

"No," she said quickly. "Thanks for bringing this stuff in; that was a big help."

"You're welcome. Call us anytime if you need anything. Either of you," she added, looking from Ashley to Carlos. "And call us tonight to let us know how you're settling in, Carlos."

"I will," he promised, letting her hug him before stepping back out of the doorway. "Thanks for helping, Mom."

"Yeah, I don't count," Gabe commented. "Don't thank me; really, it was no problem."

"Don't you have some kids to be teaching at the dojo or something?" Carlos wanted to know. He relented when he saw his brother's expression. "Thanks for helping, Gabe."

"You heard Mom," Gabe answered, unable to resist a parting crack. "Let Ashley help you decorate."

His mom waved to the room at large, and Carlos just shook his head as they left. "Just wait until he moves out," he muttered under his breath.

"Speaking of which," Jeff said, glancing at his watch. "Neither of my roommates have apartment keys yet, so I need to get back there before they do. It was good seeing you again, Carlos."

"Yeah, you too," Carlos answered automatically.

Jeff chucked his sister under the chin, then wrapped her in a bear hug. "Good luck, girl. Call me if you need anything, all right?"

"I will," she promised, hugging him back. "Thanks, Jeff."

"Anytime," he told her with a smile. "See you."

She waved after him, then put her hands on her hips as she surveyed the room. "So it's just me and you now, room," she announced. "Let's see what we can do before Missy gets here."

Carlos raised an eyebrow. "Okay... I'll leave you two alone. But first I just want you to know that the fact that you're talking to your room means you should get out more, and since some of us are having dinner at Max's place tonight, you should come."

She looked surprised, though he wasn't sure why. "Some of us?" she repeated.

"Me and Aura, TJ, Tessa, and probably Karen," he elaborated. "Max won't tell us what he's making, but you know it'll be good. Come and hang out."

"You don't have to convince me," she said with a grin. "It sounds great. What time?"

"Tonight at six. I'll give you a ride, if you want."

"Sure," she agreed. "Thanks. I'll come by your room around 5:30?"

"Sounds good." He glanced around her room. "Good luck with this place. And remember, you can talk to it as much as you want, but when it starts talking back? Come find me."

Ashley rolled her eyes, but she laughed. "I will."

***

"Tortellini."

"He hasn't made tortellini since the time the stove exploded."

"How about lasagna?"

"He just made lasagna last weekend."

"I bet it's chicken teryaki."

"He might make teryaki. At least I can't think of any reason he wouldn't."

"Do you really have any idea what Max is serving for dinner?" Karen interrupted. "Or are you both just guessing?"

"We're just guessing," Tessa answered cheerfully. "I'm guessing, anyway. TJ's being a big help by telling me why I'm wrong."

They were standing on the sidewalk outside the university bookstore, waiting in a line that only seemed to grow longer as the afternoon wore on. The bookstore itself was so full that there was a staff member at the door, letting small groups of people in as others left. Everyone else waited outside, lining the street for more than half a block.

"I'm just trying to help Karen decide whether she wants to come," TJ protested. "Some of Max's dinners are better than others."

"TJ," Tessa scolded. "You know that's not true."

"You're the one who brought up the tortellini," he reminded her.

"It wasn't his fault the stove exploded," she protested. "These things happen."

"All right, all right," Karen interjected. "I'm coming. If only to hear the stove story," she added, giving them a bemused look. "You said Carlos and Aura are going to be there too?"

"Yeah," TJ said, squinting toward the front of the line. Another four people were being let in, and he could see them stop just inside the door of the bookstore. "We refused to go out with them for at least a month after the last reporter incident, so Max offered to cook in as a compromise."

"Oh..." Karen looked torn between laughter and sympathy. "I think I saw that in the paper. Was that the time the reporter went around to everyone else in the restaurant and asked them what they thought you guys had to do with Aquitar?"

Tessa sighed, but she looked more amused than annoyed. "Yes. We refused to talk to her, so she decided to ask everybody else what they thought to get her story."

"My favorite was the person who thought Tessa might be an undercover Aquitian spy," TJ put in. "Some of the people that reporter interviewed had a few problems with reality."

"Yeah, like they didn't know what it was," Tessa said dryly.

"I had a kid come up to me the next day and ask me why the Aquitians were spying on us," TJ added. "And let me tell you, it's not easy to get a bunch of ten-year-olds back to batting practice once they've been distracted by the idea of aliens."

"You think that's bad?" Tessa smirked. "Remember the guy in the restaurant who thought the Aquitian Rangers were recruiting, and that you might be the next in line to be an alien Power Ranger?"

Karen laughed, but TJ just groaned. "Max *still* teases me about that."

"But at least Max didn't ask if you could get him considered for the position," Tessa reminded him.

Karen gave her an incredulous look. "Someone actually asked you that?"

"One of the lab techs came up to me the next day," Tessa confirmed. "He mentioned very casually that he'd always thought he'd make a good Ranger, and that if Aura ever asked me to recommend someone then he could provide excellent character references."

Karen shot a look in his direction, as if to ask whether Tessa was pulling her leg, and TJ just shrugged. "What can I say? Not everyone likes their job."

Suddenly, Tessa glanced down and pulled her pager out of her pocket. "Ned probably wants me in the lab," she said, studying the number on the screen. She looked up, considered the line that still stretched out in front of them, and shook her head. "Can you guys save my place while I go call him?"

"Sure. Tell him that if he wants you, he can come get your books for you," TJ added, as she started toward the payphone down the street.

Tessa waved to indicate that she'd heard, and Karen grinned. "It won't be worth it," she predicted. "He'd have to be really desperate to offer to stand in this line for her."

"Really desperate, or a freshman," TJ said, eyeing the line suspiciously. "Do you get the feeling that there are more freshmen than all the other years combined in this line?"

"Maybe upperclassmen don't bother to get books," Karen offered.

"Or maybe they get them late." TJ frowned. "Except Tessa. She's here, isn't she."

"Tessa's always an exception," Karen countered. "Maybe upperclassmen have secret hours at the bookstore. If you can prove you've been at the university for at least a year, you get to come in at midnight or something."

"Then they'd have to staff it that late," TJ pointed out. "Maybe there are classes that don't use textbooks, and they just don't tell freshmen about them. We'll have to ask Tess."

"No, don't," Karen said quickly. "She'll just remind me that we could have gotten our books days ago, before everyone else arrived. I didn't think it would be that big a deal, and she laughed at me. Now I know why."

"Did you guys fit all your stuff into your dad's truck?" TJ asked, remembering the two of them trying to pack the day before. Tessa had suggested they take a break to get their books, but Karen, who had had far more to do, had vetoed the idea.

"We did, but there wasn't room for much else," Karen admitted. "My parents came in my mom's car to help us move things in."

"Yeah, sorry I couldn't help with that." Since he was living off-campus with Max he didn't have to go through the hassle of moving himself, but the Athletics director had scheduled a meeting with him for this morning. "My supervisor wanted to talk to me about what I'll be doing this fall."

"You're going to keep working for the Athletics department?"

"Same department, different job," TJ agreed. "I'll be on the Events Staff instead of teaching the sporting camps. The hours are more flexible, and there aren't going to be that many more camps this season anyway."

"Events Staff, huh?" Karen seemed to consider that. "Are they the people that get paid to go to football games?"

TJ grinned. "That's one way to look at it." They were inching along the street, and he glanced over his shoulder to see if Tessa was on her way back yet. "They work most of the games, including homecoming, plus the concerts and alumni events. The Events Staff helps with anything that happens on the athletic fields or in the Rec Center."

"That doesn't sound like a bad job," Karen remarked. He couldn't tell if she was joking or not when she added, "Do they need anyone else?"

"What, you don't want to serve ice cream for another three months?" He kept his face as straight as he could. While Karen claimed to enjoy working at the "dairy bar" over the summer, her unconcealed glee on her last day of work had told another story.

She only shrugged. "Let's just say I'm ready to do something else for a while, and if I'm going to be at the games anyway..."

He chuckled. "I'll pick up an application for you tomorrow."

"Thanks." She peered over his shoulder. "What's taking Tess so long? Is Ned reading her the latin dictionary, or what?"

"She hasn't been gone that long." But TJ had been wondering about her absence too. "Maybe she ran into someone."

"Like Carlos?" Karen suggested. "He promised he was going to stop by and see where we live this morning, since we're all in the same dorm, but he never showed up."

TJ shrugged. "You know Carlos. He probably slept in and didn't get to campus till after lunch."

Karen gave him an odd look. "He's been getting up pretty early these last few weeks, hasn't he?"

TJ frowned back at her. "What do you mean?"

"The time difference with Aquitar is a lot bigger than it used to be," she reminded him. "It's almost half a day off now, isn't it? When he gets up in the morning now, he can go there and catch Aura the night before."

TJ stared at her. "What?"

She sighed. "Never mind. I used to think US time zones were bad," she added, almost as an afterthought. "Then Tess tried to explain to me what happens when different planets have different rotational speeds."

"She tried that one on me, too," TJ said dryly. "I got as far as 'some planets spin faster than Earth, so their days are shorter' and then she started talking about galactic time and leap decades and I gave up."

Karen shook her head. "It amazes me to think that some people study that kind of thing for a living."

"And some people take it for granted," TJ added. "Andros doesn't even think about it."

"Surprise!" Tessa slipped back into line beside them, a cup of vanilla ice cream in one hand and three spoons in the other. "I got us a treat!"

"Augh!" Karen pretended to cringe. "Summer flashback! Get it away!"

"Oh, come on," Tessa coaxed. "It doesn't count if someone else is serving it."

Karen made a token face, but she accepted her spoon without further complaint. "What did Ned want?" she asked, waiting while Tessa took the first spoonful.

"A life," Tessa replied, putting the spoon into her mouth upside down. "What else?"

Amused, TJ wanted to know, "Did you tell him to get lost again?"

Spoon still in her mouth, Tessa nodded vigorously.

Karen buried her spoon in the ice cream and scooped some out with a melodramatic sigh. "Why can't I work for someone like that? I can't even remember how many times I wanted to tell my boss to get lost this summer." 

"People who dissect fish together don't worry about things like that as much," Tessa told her. "He wanted me to come stain the 36-hour cells now, before they turned into 37-hour cells, and I told him that if he could tell the difference between 36 hours and 37, I'd do it."

"You also told him he'd have to pay you overtime," TJ guessed, sticking his spoon into the ice cream. It was plain vanilla with no toppings, but somehow, standing out on the sidewalk with his girlfriend and her roommate on a warm summer afternoon, it was perfect.

Tessa shrugged as though that had been a given. "Of course!"

***

Max's house was very much the way she remembered it: wide open and welcoming, uncluttered without being too neat, and full of good smells. Tessa's bike had been propped up by the garage door when Carlos' car pulled into the driveway, so Ashley wasn't surprised to see her on the other side of the screen door when they climbed the steps.

"Ashley!" Tessa's exclamation was delighted as she opened the door and ushered them inside. "Carlos didn't tell us you were coming! How are you?"

"I didn't know until this afternoon," Carlos put in, following Karen through the door and stepping out of the way so Tessa could close it. "She's living down the hall from me and I just found out today!"

"Ashley?" TJ came out from behind the counter in the kitchen and grabbed her by the shoulders. "What's been going on? You're as bad as Andros at keeping in touch!" He pulled her into a hug before she could answer, and she had to laugh.

"We were busy," she said, hugging him back. "I wanted to call, but you wouldn't believe what it's like on KO-35 these days. There's not much time for personal lives there right now."

"So why'd you come back?" Carlos asked over his shoulder. He was making a show of inspecting the food on the counter, but she knew he'd been wanting to ask that question all afternoon.

She shrugged uncomfortably. There was so much more to the answer than she could put into words. "There's not much time for personal lives there now," she repeated, trying to keep her tone light.

"Well, we're glad you're here now," Tessa asserted, before anyone could feel awkward. TJ's girlfriend put a companionable arm around her shoulder and gave her a quick hug. "And you're just in time for dinner!"

"Max made broccoli quiche," TJ added. "He'll be back in just a minute. He went to take out some laundry just as you guys pulled in."

"Is he still doing your laundry for you?" Karen teased, hitching one leg over a stool by the counter and reaching across it to steal a carrot from the salad bowl. "Honestly, TJ, when are you going to grow up?"

"We take turns!" TJ exclaimed defensively. "This was his week to do the laundry, all right?"

"Yeah, whatever," Karen said, rolling her eyes. "Careful of him, Tess. He doesn't cook, he doesn't do laundry..."

"Actually, he and Max have been doing my laundry," Tessa admitted. "It's cheaper than going to the laundromat twice a month."

"See!" TJ gave Karen a triumphant look. "I don't need to hear any more of your male stereotypes."

"Are we discussing stereotypes?" a new voice inquired. Max appeared in the doorway to the garage, a laundry basket in his arms and a curious look on his face. "Hello, all. How did you manage to arrive during the only three seconds I've been out of the kitchen all evening?"

"Carlos has a knack for it," Karen remarked. "He's never where people think he's going to be at the right time. This afternoon, for instance," she said, raising her eyebrows in his direction. "You said you were going to come see us!"

Carlos grimaced. "Man," he said with a sigh, giving every indication of remorse. "I totally forgot about that. Sorry."

"Where do you live?" Ashley asked Karen, just as a high-pitched trill sounded in the room. Carlos pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and made an "excuse me" gesture as he moved toward the other side of the living room.

"Ladd Hall," Karen answered. "Same dorm as Carlos. Me and Tessa are in room 227."

"The chem-free dorm!" Ashley agreed with a smile. "So am I! I'm above you in 304."

Karen didn't reply immediately, and she realized the other was eavesdropping on Carlos' conversation. Indeed, they two were the only ones who had spoken since his phone rang, and she wondered if everyone else was listening too. Only Max appeared to be minding his own business, taking an extra plate out of the cupboard and adding some more silverware to the stacks at the beginning of an improvised buffet line.

"We were wondering where you were," Carlos was telling the person on the other end of the line. "Is everything all right?"

Whomever he was talking to said something that made him chuckle. "Don't hurt them until after they okay the new specs, all right? If a few of them turn up missing once we have the go ahead, I won't wonder where you are."

"Yeah, okay," he said a minute later. "We're at Max's now. Do you want us to wait?"

There was another pause, and he smiled. "I love you too. See you."

He waited a moment before closing the phone and turning around again. "That was Aura," he said, not seeming at all disconcerted to find them all watching him. "She's going to change and then join us in a few minutes. She says to go ahead and start without her."

Ashley's eyes widened, and she glanced covertly at the others. None of them looked startled to hear that Carlos' alien girlfriend had just called him up on a cell phone from another galaxy. "That was Aura?" she repeated, just as Max clapped his hands.

"All right," he announced, to no one in particular. "Normally I'd wait, but this salad has been sitting out long enough and the quiche is getting cold. Everyone help themselves!"

"I notice we're not sitting at the table," TJ commented. "That wouldn't have anything to do with the monster project you've got spread out in there, would it, Max?"

"Of course not," Max said loftily. "This sort of meal simply lends itself to the buffet style of serving. As an artist, it's important to match medium and subject matter."

"He could have cleared the table," Tessa stage-whispered to TJ. "He just chose not to."

Max pointed at her. "Exactly!"

TJ picked up a plate and silverware, but he gestured to Max to precede him in line. "Send the salad down here while you cut the quiche," he told his uncle. "I wouldn't take a knife to your artwork if my life depended on it."

Max shook his head, muttering about the acculturation of today's youth as he accepted TJ's knife. He cut the quiche into seven more or less even pieces before handing the knife back, then pointed sternly toward the spatula when TJ went to scoop his piece up with a fork. "Don't be lazy," he chided. "It's there for a reason."

While she waited, Ashley found herself standing beside Carlos and she gave him an odd look. "Since when does Aura call you on a cell phone?"

He frowned. "She... oh," he said, a grin lighting his face. "She doesn't. I have one of their communicators." Carlos held up his right hand, and in place of the morpher he used to wear was a thin gold band that she had mistaken for a watch. "Billy hooked it up to my phone so we could talk without being so obvious."

"It's probably going to creep your roommates out anyway," Tessa said, obviously overhearing. She took a roll from the basket and stepped out of the way. "It's not every day you move in with someone wired to another galaxy."

"I would have to actually meet them for them to be creeped out," Carlos answered, handing Ashley a plate and then taking one for himself. "Go ahead," he added, motioning her to go in front of him.

"You haven't met them yet?" Karen asked, scooping some ice into a glass and setting it by the sink. "Does anyone else want water?"

Carlos shook his head. "One of them had already been and gone when I got there this morning, and the other one moved in while Ashley and I were getting our books. I haven't seen either of them yet."

"You might be lucky," Ashley said, putting her fingers on either side of the quiche to keep it from falling off the spatula as she transferred it to her plate. She caught Karen's eye as the other girl filled three more glasses and added, "Me too?"

"Yeah, what's yours like?" Carlos wanted to know. He had set his plate down to carry water glasses to Max and Tessa, and she accepted her own glass from Karen and followed him into the living room.

"She's..." Ashley hesitated, trying to find a comfortable place on the couch and the right words to express her uncertainty. "I don't know," she said at last, as she settled down. "She's interesting, at least."

"What's her name?" Karen asked, delivering TJ's water and setting her own down at the other end of the couch before going back for food.

"Missy Johnson." Ashley took one bite of the quiche and felt an appreciative smile curve her lips. "Max, this is really good!"

"Yes," he agreed immodestly. "It is, isn't it."

"'Missy'?" TJ repeated, paying no attention to his uncle. "Is that short for something, or is that really her name?"

"TJ?" Tessa echoed pointedly. "Does that stand for something, or is that really your name?"

He held up his hands to ward off her sarcasm. "I'm just asking!"

"I think that's really her name." Ashley moved over a little as Karen joined her on the couch, and Carlos took a seat in the big armchair by the television. "It's kind of... appropriate, too."

Carlos raised an eyebrow just as she looked over at him, and she shrugged. "She's a little different, that's all."

There was a knock at the back door, and Carlos jumped to his feet again. "That'll be Aura, sneaking in the back," he remarked, heading for the screened in porch at the other end of the room. The sliding door had been left open, and he stepped out onto it to open the outside door.

It was indeed Aura who stepped through, taking his hand and tilting her head for a quick kiss as she joined him inside. Ashley heard Carlos whisper something too quiet to make out, and Aura smiled. She let him lead her into the living room, and Max got to his feet politely.

"Welcome," TJ's uncle greeted her. "So glad you could make it. There's quiche and accessories over on the counter, with plates and silverware if you'd like to help yourself."

"I'll get you something to drink," Carlos added, seeming reluctant to let go of her hand as he followed her into the kitchen. "You look nice."

She did look nice. The times Ashley had seen any of the Aquitian Rangers out of uniform were few and far between, but their civilian clothes had a simple elegance that the designer in her admired. She wondered fleetingly what sort of fabric they were made of.

"How are you doing with your room?" Ashley asked, glancing over at Karen. "I didn't know you and Tessa were living together, but it must be nice to move in with someone you already know."

Karen and Tessa looked at each other, and shared amusement was plain on their faces. "Well," Karen said after a long moment. "We know what to expect from each other, so that's a help. It's easier... but I'm not sure it's any nicer."

"Hey!" Tessa interrupted. "I'm not the one who had to move the furniture five times before deciding it was better the way it was before!"

"No," Karen agreed with a grin. "But you did try to put the rug down after everything was finally all set up. That was a pain."

"That's because you were moving things until then," Tessa reminded her. "It's easier to slide stuff on a bare floor than on a rug."

"And what of your roommates?" Aura was asking, just loud enough to make her the center of attention as she and Carlos rejoined the others. "Will I be hearing you complain like this about them for the foreseeable future?" She gave Tessa and Karen a brief smile to take the sting out of her question.

"I'd have to actually meet them first," Carlos told her, pulling the footstool away from the armchair and taking her glass and plate from her as she sat down. He perched next to her on one of the counter stools, setting her dishes on the end table between them.

"You have not met them even now?" she asked, looking surprised.

"Neither of them have been in the room while I'm there," he explained, picking up his own nearly empty plate again.

"Ah." Aura seemed to consider that. "Then I assume that if you take the amount of time you yourself spend in any given location and multiply that by three, you may find that you can go the entire semester without ever once interacting with the people you live with."

"Be quiet and eat your food," he told her.

"You have a more objective perspective," Aura said, ignoring his suggestion as she turned toward Ashley. "Does he seem more or less polite than he did when you last saw him? I am trying to discover a trend."

Startled, Ashley needed a moment to remember to play along. She gave Carlos a look of frank appraisal before admitting, "More. He got the door, carried your dishes, and gave up his seat for you. For Carlos, that's pretty impressive."

"That's pretty impressive for most males," Karen put in, setting her glass down and winking at Tessa.

"Excuse me," Carlos interrupted, with as much dignity as he could muster. "We're outnumbered here, so I think the four of you need to mind your own business."

"Weren't you going to say something about stereotypes earlier, Max?" TJ wondered, getting up and carrying his plate to the counter for seconds.

"I was," his uncle replied blandly. "But it's not really topical now."

"I think it is," Carlos insisted. "What were you going to say?"

"Oh, it's nothing." Max's studied indifference had gotten everyone's attention by now. "I just saw a bumper sticker the other day that I thought Aura might not appreciate. Since we seem intent on making sweeping generalizations this evening, though, I might have been wrong."

"What did it say?" Tessa prompted, when he paused.

"It said 'Fasten your seatbelt,'" he answered, twirling the ice around in his glass. "Because 'it makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car.'"

Ashley put her hand over her mouth, trying not to giggle. She saw Karen shoot an uncertain look in Aura's direction, but she couldn't believe the Aquitian would take offense. Not after teasing Carlos about his newfound politeness.

"That's true," Aura said. She wore an expression of sincere agreement that was almost enough to fool Ashley. Then she added, "I believe that also explains Carlos' recent reluctance to wear his when driving. I have assured him that I am extremely persistent, but..."

At this point she trailed off, but Ashley was giggling to hard to ask for the rest of the sentence. She wasn't the only one, either. Carlos took it good-naturedly enough, but when they quieted down he remarked, "What she's not telling you is that it isn't her persistence so much as her patience that's the problem."

That only set them off again. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tessa poke TJ as he sat down again, and the two of them exchanged whispered remarks. When the room was once again quiet enough to support further conversation, TJ reached out and lifted his water glass toward the middle of the room.

"Tessa suggested a toast," he announced. 

"To persistent aliens?" Carlos suggested with a smirk.

TJ rolled his eyes, but he was grinning. "To reunited friends," he corrected, his gaze sliding toward Ashley. "And to the start of a new year."

"Here here," Karen agreed, holding up her water glass.

The others followed suit, and Max added¸"Don't forget seconds! There's another quiche in the oven, if anyone's still hungry."

"I'll take you up on that," Carlos agreed, getting to his feet.

"I wondered where you were hiding it," TJ muttered, reaching for Tessa's plate as well before he followed Max and Carlos around the counter into the kitchen area.

"So can I ask you a question?" Karen asked quietly, glancing over at her from the other end of the couch while the living room degenerated into milling and fragmented conversations.

"Sure," Ashley said, though mentally she braced herself. 

"Why did you leave KO-35?" Karen asked, with frank curiosity. "If there's so much work to do there..."

She didn't seem to know how to finish, and Ashley sighed. Staring down at her empty glass, she shrugged once. "Would you believe it was Kerone that told me to go?"

"What?" Karen looked torn between laughter and surprise. "Why would Kerone want you to leave?"

"Oh, she didn't." She'd been gone only a few days, and already she missed the other girl. Andros' sister had become one of her best friends over the last few months, and it had been almost as hard to leave her as it had been to leave Andros. "She just thought..."

Ashley lifted her gaze, and wasn't surprised to find the rest of the room hanging on her every word. So much for a private conversation. "We both thought maybe it was for the best," she finished at last.

_fin_

   [1]: http://www.angelfire.com/ak/wanderinghawk/ff.html



	2. Access Denied

_Disclaimer: SOTPR, but not the goldfish jingle. "The snack that smiles back, goldfish!" Thanks to Amanda and Jared for the inspiration, not that I'm implying anything, and to Travler for telling me what's going to happen next. Couldn't do it without you._

**

Access Denied  
by Starhawk

**

Kerone woke up tired. She never considered that a good sign. She also woke up mad, which was second on her list of bad ways to start the day. Of course, since the former almost always led to the latter--this instance being no exception--she supposed she should just be grateful that she hadn't woken up hungry, too.

She rolled over on her side to complain to Ashley, and only then remembered that the other girl had left for Earth several days before. That only made her madder, and she sat up with a scowl on her face. "Andros," she said to the air. "I swear, if you find any more ways to ruin this day before it even begins, I'm leaving too."

The air didn't answer, but her eye fell on the single pair of skates left by the door. She swung her legs over the side of the bed with a renewed determination. She was getting out of Keyota for the day, and heaven help anyone who stood in her way.

She was emerging from the room's tiny bathroom when she heard a knock on the door. She frowned at it, putting her hands on her hips as though whoever was on the other side could see her. "That better not be Andros with another list of things to accomplish," she told the door. 

The person on the other side took that as an invitation, and Andros poked his head inside. "Me, yes," he agreed. "List, no. But there's a council meeting this morning, and Kinwon asked if we could all attend."

Kerone stared at him incredulously. "I hope you told him no! This is our first real day off in weeks."

"Of course I didn't tell him no." Andros looked taken aback at the thought, but behind his surprise there was a weariness that had lingered in his eyes for days. "Kerovan Rangers should be at the council meetings, day off or not."

"No, they shouldn't," she said firmly. "That's what a day off means, Andros. It means you take a day for yourself and remember how to be human instead of some sort of super-powered legend."

Andros sighed. He looked like he'd had this argument already--probably with more than one person. "It's not about being a legend. I'm just trying to do my job."

He looked more tired than she felt, and she felt a flare of anger. He was doing this to himself, and he pretended not to even realize it. If she and Zhane didn't fight him every step of the way, dragging him away from work and forcing him to slow down, he would just keep going until he burned out.

"If it were a job, you'd take a day off every now and then," she informed him. "If you didn't let it eat up every part of your life, you would have remembered to say good morning when you came in just now. This is more than a job; it's an obsession. None of us signed up for this, Andros."

His expression closed up, and she frowned irritably. Ashley was good at this. She wasn't. Ashley would have been able to make him see reason. But then, Ashley had left because making Andros see reason had become a full-time job. Trying to fight what he wanted all the time could burn a person out as surely as letting him go would burn Andros out.

"This is what being a Ranger is about, Kerone," he said coldly. "We can't just blow up our problems. We have to try to fix them."

Shocked past her anger for a moment, she could only stare at him. The more rational side of her said that he must be far more worn out than he was letting on to make a comment like that. The other side complained bitterly about the allusion to her past and was sorely tempted to throw him out of her room.

"Go to your council meeting," she said at last, trying to keep her voice even. "I'm not Ashley, Andros, and if you want to work until you collapse then that's your decision. But I'm taking my day off."

"Fine." Without another word, Andros turned and left.

She was half tempted to yell "Fine!" after him, but she contented herself with slamming the door. What was *wrong* with him? Couldn't he see what was happening? He was trying to rebuild a planet all by himself, and as long as he did anything people asked they would just keep asking. 

"Delegate," she muttered. It was the first rule of authority: use it and pass it on.

After another moment of fuming, she forced herself to draw in a deep breath. She wasn't going to change Andros; that much was clear. But she needed this day to herself, to get away from the constant demands of an undergoverned planet, and that she could do. 

The former princess of evil gave a casual wave of her hand and her pajamas vanished, replaced by clothes suitable more for morning. They were inconspicuous only in the fact that they didn't sport the Astro Ranger logo, but she didn't intend to be around many people today anyway. Kerone grabbed her skates and her hover license and headed for the door.

***

Andros heard the door slam behind him, but he didn't pause. He knew his sister blamed him for Ashley's departure, and she had been short with him ever since her friend left. No matter how much he tried to make her see where their true responsibilities lay, Kerone had been on her own for too long to start putting the greater good ahead of her own wishes now.

He scowled as he pulled the door of his room open and found Zhane still in bed. Kerone wasn't the only one who didn't see the necessity of keeping up with KO-35's rapidly shifting government. Zhane's more laid-back attitude led him to support whatever decisions Andros made without really considering the consequences. It was nice to have that sort of ally in council meetings, but sometimes he got the feeling the Silver Ranger just didn't care.

"Zhane," he said aloud. "It's the middle of the morning, you know."

There was no answer save for the flick of a brown tail from underneath the edge of the comforter. One of the kittens must have relocated when Andros got up, seeking out a new warm body to cuddle up against. He was tempted to go over and yank the covers off of both of them.

"Zhane," he repeated more sternly. He knew the other was awake.

Zhane's mental voice was slow when he finally deigned to reply. *Sunrise is *not* the middle of the morning.* There was still no movement from the lump on the bed.

"Morning began at midnight," Andros retorted, pleased to find a use for Ashley's favorite explanation. His smile faded a little then and he added, "Come on, Zhane. We're going to be late to the council meeting."

Without waiting for an answer, he went over to the blank screen set into the wall. He intended to let Kinwon know that Kerone wouldn't be joining them, but the comm didn't activate when he spoke to it. Frowning, he tried again. When it still refused to respond, he tried manually keying in his authorization code and was greeted with the message, "Access denied."

"What's wrong with the comm?" he inquired irritably.

*Nothing,* Zhane mumbled in his mind. 

"Well, it's not working." Andros glared at the screen, then turned back toward the door to find whoever was slated for hostel maintenance this morning. He almost bumped into the door when it didn't open at his approach.

"Did we lose power again?" Andros demanded, glancing back at the screen. It still read "Access denied," proving that the generators hadn't failed completely. "What's going on?"

*Andros, go back to bed,* Zhane told him. *It's too early for this.*

"If there's a problem, we need to find it," Andros insisted, punching his override into the door's locking mechanism. If there was any power at all in the system it would open for his code, but the door didn't budge.

*There's no problem.* The comforter on the bed finally moved, and Zhane's blue eyes peered sleepily out at him. Silver-grey fur by his right shoulder proved that both kittens were actually under the blankets with him. *I locked you out of the computer.*

Andros stared at him, his brain refusing to comprehend the words. "You... what?"

*I used our Ranger codes to lock you out of the computer,* Zhane repeated. *It's your day off and you shouldn't even be up this early, let alone running around trying to organize council attendance.*

Torn between hurt and the anger born of helplessness, Andros sputtered, "It's none of your business how I spend my day off! You have no right to tell me what to do!"

Zhane gave him a one-shouldered shrug and rolled over, his back to Andros as he pulled the comforter up over his head again. *I'm sorry you feel that way.*

Stunned, Andros sank onto the other bed and stared at the lump that was his friend. Zhane had effectively trapped him here in this room with no access to the outside world, and the implications of that were only just beginning to sink in. Was everyone conspiring against him now?

"Zhane," he whispered, hearing the betrayal in his voice.

Zhane heard it too, and the Silver Ranger threw back the covers once more. He pushed himself up on his elbows but said nothing, gazing over at Andros and ignoring the mewing protests of dislodged kittens. _Your move,_ his expression said.

Andros looked away, not sure he could account for himself in the face of such intensity. Zhane had never questioned, never protested except in the most innocuous of ways, and he had taken for granted that his friend would always be there to back him up. Losing Ashley had hurt, but in the back of his mind he had always known she might leave. Zhane's actions took him completely by surprise.

"We're not deserting you, Andros," Zhane said quietly. "It just feels like you're deserting us, sometimes."

His head jerked up, and he knew Zhane saw the question in his eyes without him having to voice it.

The other boy climbed out of bed, sunlight catching in tousled hair that had more white highlights than it used to. His pajamas were rumpled but his expression was solemn as he made his way over to Andros' bed. "Stand up," he said, taking Andros' arm as he obeyed.

Zhane led him over to the mirror on the back of the door and they gazed at their reflection for a moment: Zhane barefoot in the same silver clothes he had slept in and Andros wearing his Astro flightsuit and boots. For just a moment Zhane looked far older than he did, but then Andros blinked and the illusion vanished.

"Who are you?" Zhane asked at last.

Surprised, Andros answered without thinking. "The Red Ranger."

Zhane put a hand over his heart, covering up the Astro logo on Andros' flightsuit. "Who are you?" he repeated more quietly.

Andros studied his reflection, ignoring the impeccable uniform and neat ponytail. Instead he saw shadowed eyes and a worried expression, and a face that belonged to a person he thought he had left behind. It was the face of someone who had lost his entire world and was afraid it could still happen again.

He let his gaze slide toward Zhane's. "I'm your best friend," he said softly, well aware that the words had come out as a question.

Zhane smiled at that. "Anyone can be the Red Ranger, Andros. But I only have one best friend, and you're it." There was a pause, and he added, "Trust me, all right?

"Here," he said, pulling Andros toward the window. "Look out there."

There was a little girl in the hostel gardens, playing with the sap set out for the flutterbies. She was the first one Andros noticed, sticky stuff running down her fingers and catching in her hair as she tried to shake it off her hands. But there were others: an older woman who might have been her mother seated by the garden path with her eyes closed, two people leaving through the gates with backpacks and a foreign lilt to the way they walked, a boy about their own age twirling a hover pass on his finger as he sauntered down the road in the opposite direction. It was early, but the city of Keyota was already stirring.

"Look at that," Zhane repeated. "There they go, off into their lives... without any help from you."

Andros gave him a sharp look. "Why should they need help from me?"

Zhane turned innocent blue eyes on him. "You tell me. What were you planning to do today, again?"

Andros sighed. "Zhane, the council meeting is important."

"No," Zhane insisted. "What were you planning to do before that came up?"

"I--" Andros hesitated. "We weren't planning anything... I was just going to hang out with you and Kerone."

"The council meeting will happen whether you're there or not," Zhane reminded him. "But Kerone's already gone, isn't she."

Andros folded his arms, not wanting to admit the truth of that. He suspected she had left as soon as he was gone and would not be seen again for the rest of the day. 

"Red Ranger or best friend, Andros," Zhane said quietly. "Which one is more important?"

He sighed. "Best friend, of course. But--"

"But?" Zhane repeated.

Andros hesitated. "Nothing," he said at last, glancing at the comm screen. Its last words hadn't faded, and suddenly he saw them in a new light. So he couldn't reach Kinwon. His life wasn't over. But what if he couldn't reach Zhane? What if there came a day when Ashley didn't answer, or Kerone?

He raised his gaze to Zhane's again. "Do you really feel like I've deserted you?" he asked at last, searching his friend's expression. "I'm just trying to make things better..."

"And you are," Zhane said firmly. "Those people out there in the garden wouldn't even be there if it hadn't been for the Astro Rangers. KO-35 would be just another deserted colony world, and its people would be scattered across the galaxy doing their best to lay low until Dark Spectre got bored with looking for them. But anything you owe to them, you owe to yourself too.

"You have your home back, Andros." Zhane looked wistful for just a moment, but he corrected himself before Andros could say anything. "We have our home back. If we don't enjoy that, then what was the point? 

"Sure," he said without waiting for an answer. "Things are better because of you. So don't kill yourself trying to do things that other people can do just as well, because if you do then you won't be around to do what only you can do when it's needed."

Andros just looked at him for a moment. The remark that had made Zhane's face cloud over hadn't been lost on him, but now he was the same irreverent yet strangely insightful friend Andros had always known. His expression was expectant, not distressed.

"I don't think there will be too many more Dark Spectres for us to get rid of," Andros said at last. "So if I'm supposed to sit around waiting to do that again--"

Zhane narrowed his eyes, and Andros bit his lip in an effort to keep from smiling. His friend hadn't taken the bait, and he finally conceded defeat. "All right, all right. Point taken."

"No council meeting?"

"No council meeting," Andros agreed.

*Astrea!* Zhane's mental shout was deafening, and Andros winced in protest. *Stop sulking and get back here!*

Andros was tempted to ask whether the volume had been strictly necessary, but instead he waited to see if she would answer. When there was only silence, he exchanged glances with Zhane. The Silver Ranger shrugged as though it didn't matter one way or the other.

"She must be really mad," he said cheerfully, scooping up one of the kittens from his bed and handing it to Andros. "Here, hold this."

"What are you doing?" Andros watched him set the other ball of fluff on the floor before yanking all the covers off of his bed and pulling the mattress away from the wall.

"Looking for my shirt," Zhane replied, his voice muffled as he stuck his head down behind the bed.

Andros patted the brown kitten in his arms absently. Katana had always preferred Ashley, but she hadn't been able to take pets back to school with her. "The shirt you wore yesterday? Don't you think it'll be a little wrinkled by now?"

"I'm not going to *wear* it." Zhane searched under his pillow before getting down on his knees to look under the bed. "I'm looking for the schedule Cestria gave me."

"What schedule?" Andros asked, bemused. 

Zhane pulled a silver vest out from under the bed triumphantly. "Aha!" Extracting a small data chip from the pocket, he tossed it to Andros who just barely managed to stop it with his mind before it would have clipped Katana's ear.

Giving the chip a telekinetic shove, he watched it fly across the room and settle in the disc reader by the comm screen. A list of times appeared on the screen, and he frowned. "What's that for?"

"The Aquitian asteroid hop," Zhane answered, pulling another shirt that might or might not have been clean out from underneath his bed. "Kerone and I were going to surprise you with the registration, but since you managed to tick her off already--not hard these days, I might add--I figure we might as well keep our slot."

Andros squirmed guiltily. "I should go after her," he muttered.

"No," Zhane disagreed. "You know how hard she is to find when she decides to disappear. She'll be back tonight and she'll either yell at you some more or ignore you until tomorrow. Either way, there's nothing we can do about it now."

*Kerone?* Andros couldn't help trying anyway. She wouldn't have taken her communicator with her; he knew that from past experience. She had stormed out on Zhane often enough that they knew what to expect when she vanished now.

There was no answer, not that he had really expected one. Neither of them had dared to ask whether she truly blocked them during times like these, or if she still heard them but chose to pretend otherwise. *I'm sorry,* he thought, just in case. *Zhane talked some sense into me. We're going to Aquitar, if you want to come with.*

An Ashley-ism, he realized even as he thought it. _Want to come with?_ had become standard slang between her and Kerone over the last few months, but he hadn't had enough contact with Earth to know whether it was original or not.

"Well, you gave it a try," Zhane said, breaking the silence as he changed. "We can leave a message on her comm, too, in case she comes back early."

***

Her old room was dark and silent save for the nearly inaudible whistle of relay static coming over the comm. It took a few seconds for the setup to connect, but she hadn't realized how irritating the delay was before she'd gotten used to the instantaneous Kerovan equipment. She wrapped her arms around herself and leaned forward, willing Andros' face to appear on the little screen.

The Astro Ranger symbol flashed across the screen at last, and she held her breath. It lingered too long, but she told herself that was just the comm--until Andros' recorded message answered instead of a live image. She sighed, watching him tell her to leave her link number so he could get in touch when he got back.

She glanced down at the watch Kerone had given her. It was almost noon on KO-35, and this was to have been their day off. She had to admit that she was a little surprised he had taken it without her there to force him into it, but she supposed Zhane and Kerone could be counted on to keep him sane in her absence.

"Hi," she said quietly, when the "recording" message flashed on the screen. "It's Ashley. I just wanted to make sure you weren't working through your day off. Call me when you get a chance. Bye."

She wanted to say more. She wanted to say, "It's two a.m. and I can't sleep. Stay up with me and make me laugh." She wanted to say, "I just had the worst dream in the history of the world, and I need someone to tell me it wasn't real." She wanted to say, "Why are you off having fun without me when I'm stuck here being miserable and all I want is to know that you're miserable too!"

She couldn't say that, though, and she had had no reason to expect him to be around when she called at such an odd hour. He had a watch ticking off the minutes in California the same as she had one running on Keyota time, and if there were any time when he would assume hearing from her was impossible, it would be now.

With a sigh, she turned off her parents' comm set and stared around the room. It hadn't changed much while she'd been gone, except that her mom had piled a couple of storage crates in one corner and there was a basket of hangers by the door. She supposed she could forgive those minor intrusions, considering the way she had left at the beginning of the summer. She had thought then that she might not come back at all, and she had told her parents as much. A few boxes weren't such a surprise, really.

Had they known? She wondered about that as she got to her feet. She walked quietly down the hall toward the kitchen, ghosting through the old familiar house and marveling at how easily it had let her back in. KO-35 seemed far away right now, and she couldn't help feeling--trapped. By the past, by her surroundings... she didn't know by what, exactly. The feeling faded a little as she let herself out the front door, but when she looked up at the sky she didn't feel any closer to where she wanted to be.

__

"Why did you come back if you didn't want to?" Jeff had asked.

Staring out at the street in front of her, she remembered her cryptic answer. _"I didn't want to stay just because I didn't want to leave."_

She sighed, starting down the sidewalk to the place where she'd parked her car. Had her parents expected her back this fall? It seemed almost foolish in hindsight, leaving for a planet she'd never stayed more than a few nights on with someone she knew cared more about his home than he did about her...

Or was that unfair? She didn't really believe that, after all. She knew Andros loved her, and if forced to choose she believed in her heart that he would choose her over KO-35. But he didn't have to choose, and that was what made it difficult. As selfish as it seemed, she knew it was competing with KO-35 for Andros' attentions that had exhausted her while she was there.

She fished her keys out of her pocket and unlocked the driver's side door, pausing before she climbed in to glance up at the sky once more. She didn't like this feeling of being confined to a single planet. She missed the shuttle lights crisscrossing the sky, and the hum of the skyport down the road. She missed looking up at KO-35's sister planet in the sky and knowing that someone on that planet was probably looking back at her.

She missed the hover Kerone had taught her to drive, if it came to that. She missed the food. She missed the antigravs Zhane had installed in their skates, and the way the gates at the hostel swung silently on their false hinges.

"I miss you," she whispered to the sky. She wasn't sure if she meant Andros or his planet.

Finally, she settled into the driver's seat and closed the door. Flipping her headlights on, she started the engine and pulled out into the road. She hadn't wanted to wake her parents, but the nightmare of a world gone horribly wrong had driven her out of bed to seek solace in Andros' voice. She wasn't sure if seeing the recorded image of him had eased or encouraged her loneliness.

***

The two-seater slammed into the rock outcropping and lifted off in the same breath--or it would have been the same breath, if Zhane had had any left to spare. All Andros ever needed was an excuse to throw caution to the wind and he tossed it away like so much recycled air. There was only one asteroid between them and the finish line, and the Red Astro Ranger was intent on catching up to the sole winged pod in front of them.

"We're not going to make it," Zhane advised over the headset. "They're worse than you are."

"Or better," Andros shot back, and though they sat back to back Zhane could almost see the look of intense concentration on his friend's face. "But we can still catch them."

Zhane watched the tactical display with half his attention and filtered Andros' nav corrections with the other half. Andros' flying was instinctive; he could have gone without a copilot but the rules of the competition said it was a full two-seater or nothing. So Zhane rode backup and tried to keep from flinching when his friend flung their little ship too close to a hurtling piece of rock for comfort.

The ship ahead of them bounced off the last asteroid and headed for the finish line, its victory unofficial but indisputable at this point. As soon as the two-seater's sensors registered that last impact their ID number would have been logged by the judges; there would be no catching them now.

The bottom of the craft scraped hard against the rock below, but not hard enough. Zhane braced himself as Andros slammed the ship down once more, and the confirmation code flashed across tactical. "Man," he heard Andros mutter. "We were that close!"

Zhane grinned to himself. Andros' obsessive nature might be hard to break through, but once his attention was diverted it was fully diverted. He had completely forgotten about KO-35, and if Zhane knew his friend Andros was right now fuming over the identity of the pilot who had beaten him.

"Who *are* those guys?" Andros demanded right on cue as their ship shot out of the asteroid belt and trailed the winners to the finish line. "Did you get a copy of the contestant list?"

Zhane rolled his eyes. "Yeah, hang on, I have that in my pocket. We'll find out at the finish line, like everyone else!"

Andros muttered something that the headset didn't pick up, and Zhane suppressed a snicker. For all that a Ranger leader was supposed to be about teamwork and fair play, Andros was as competitive as anyone else when challenged. More competitive, most of the time.

The "finish line" was actually the same place they had started from: an old mining dome in synchronous orbit with the debris field that separated the Aquitian system's fourth and fifth planets. The domed facility was long outdated now, and it had been converted into a tour base and recreation center years ago. Its old survey pods had been retrofitted for asteroid hopping, and it was the old unloading dock that offered returning racers a haven from the void of space.

The pod that had sailed through the atmospheric containment ahead of them was already hunkered down in its berth, but the pilot and copilot who had brought it in were invisible from above. Andros set their pod down in its designated space sedately, proving that he was capable of saner flying than he had just demonstrated, and Zhane craned his neck in an effort to see who might be standing just outside the landing area.

As Andros hit the canopy release, Zhane sprung his harness and pulled himself out of the copilot's chair. He saw a third pod settling down nearby and a fourth coming in hard on their heels, but at that moment a group of local media leaving the landing area distracted him. Leaving?

Then he caught a glimpse of the winning pod's pilot, and he began to understand. They weren't leaving; they were simply looking for the "real" winner. Rangers were welcome in all Aquitian-sponsored events, but in contests that involved reflex, strength, or reaction time, they were automatically disqualified from the top five spots.

"Congratulations," Andros was saying as Zhane came around the pod to greet Aquitar's Black Ranger. "That was some nice flying out there."

"Yeah, he can say that now that he knows it was another Ranger," Zhane put in, coming to stand by Andros' shoulder. "You should have heard him before we knew who it was!"

"I confess that I'm somewhat mollified as well," Delphinius said, though there was no visible trace of relief on his face. "You were a serious threat to our victory. I feared I might be out of practice."

"Who was your copilot?" Zhane asked curiously.

"Copilot?" Delphinius repeated, deadpan. He said it so seriously that for a moment Zhane wondered if he had found some way around that rule.

"Another Ranger," Andros surmised aloud. "Or those reporters wouldn't have left so quickly."

Delphinius pretended to consider the remark. "The problem I am having is only one of semantics, I think. 'Copilot' implies some degree of assistance on the part of the person you are flying with."

"The same way 'pilot' implies a degree of skill," a voice replied acerbically. "You work on your job and I'll work on mine."

Every time Zhane came to Aquitar, he told himself he wouldn't let the relationship between the White and Black Aquitian Rangers surprise him. And every time he came, the mere fact that Cetaci and Delphinius were still together would make him break his word. So he wasn't overly startled to look up and see Cetaci leaning over the edge of the pod's cockpit, watching the conversation with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Although 'copilot' may not be exactly the right word," Dephinius said, as though she hadn't interrupted, "I believe you do have an equivalent in your language. I am only trying to remember it."

It was one of the few times Zhane had seen an Aquitian Ranger at a loss for words, and he couldn't help but think Delphinius was exaggerating his difficulty. He was sure of it when the Black Ranger said suddenly, "Handicap... Yes, that's it. I had a handicap, not a copilot."

"It hasn't impaired his ability to rationalize," Cetaci said, to no one in particular. "If only making excuses were a more respected profession."

"There is no need to rationalize victory." Delphinius' tone was mild. He was still looking at Zhane, but he was clearly addressing his teammate. "As anyone acquainted with the feeling of being victorious knows."

"Strange that you're so good at it, then," Cetaci retorted.

Zhane might not have noticed the abrupt change in Andros' expression if he hadn't picked that moment to exchange glances with his friend. Andros went from detached amusement to wide-eyed confusion in the blink of an eye, and Zhane frowned in concern. "Andros? Are you all right?"

Andros actually started at the sound of his voice, and Zhane's frown deepened. Cetaci had fallen silent and Delphinius was watching the Red Ranger with careful curiosity. Zhane couldn't tell whether they had actually noticed something amiss or were just reacting to his question, but he appreciated the moral support.

"I'm--fine." Andros waved a hand at them, but the brief hesitation in his reply hadn't escaped Zhane.

"Are you sure?" he pressed. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Andros glanced around, and the mere fact that he didn't reply immediately set off warning bells inside Zhane's head. Finally he began, "I thought..."

"You thought what?" Zhane prompted, when Andros didn't seem inclined to finish.

Andros frowned, looking around once more. He looked a little sheepish when he admitted, "I thought I saw Ashley."

"Here?" Zhane knew it was a ridiculous question as soon as he said it, but he couldn't help taking a quick look around himself. What would she be doing at the asteroid hop? She didn't know about the tickets; he and Kerone had gotten them after she left.

"Right--right where you're standing, actually." Andros looked almost as disconcerted as Zhane felt at that remark. "For a moment... I thought she was the one who flew with me."

"She wasn't," Zhane said with a frown.

Andros gave his head an impatient shake. "I know!" Out of the corner of his eye Zhane saw Delphinius glance up at Cetaci. "It was just this feeling I had," his friend continued. "I don't know where it came from. But just for a second I could have sworn it was her standing there instead of you."

"Is it possible this is a natural mental aberration?" Delphinius inquired, when the silence lengthened.

"You mean am I stressed out to the point of imagining things?" There was a hint of irritation that Andros was clearly trying to hide in his tone. "I don't know. Maybe."

"I am only asking whether you think this is likely," Delphinius said, tilting his head. "If you believe there may be another explanation, we should investigate."

"Like what?" Andros demanded, and this time his frustration was clear. "Telepathic intrusion? Cross-dimensional vortexes? The Psycho Rangers? What other explanation could there be?"

"Any of those are valid suggestions," Cetaci remarked. Still perched above them on the edge of the pod, she looked perfectly serious. "While Rangers are not immune to hallucinations, they certainly cannot afford to overlook alternative explanations when such a thing occurs."

Andros frowned up at her, and for a moment Zhane thought he was about to contradict her. Instead all he said was, "I thought you were wearing blue."

Cetaci blinked. "Excuse me?"

The same look of confusion flitted across Andros' face, and he shook his head. "Never mind."

Cetaci gave Delphinius a decidedly odd look, which he returned in kind. "Andros," she said slowly. "Perhaps you should tell us exactly what you just saw."

"I didn't see anything," he insisted. "I just--had this weird feeling for a second. I thought I saw Ashley, but obviously I didn't. It's not a big deal."

"Still." Cetaci seemed unwilling to let the subject drop. "I will return to the Ranger dome and conduct some scans, just to be certain. Will you consent to accompany me?"

Andros shot Zhane a look that was as good as a sigh, but Zhane just shrugged. *You know how much I like Aquitar, but now I'm curious. It won't take long, anyway.*

"All right," Andros agreed at last. "At least maybe I'll listen next time you tell me to get some sleep," he added more quietly, the remark directed at Zhane as Delphinius reached up to help Cetaci out of the two-seater pod.

"If that was true," Zhane informed him, "Ashley really would be here today."

Andros flinched, and Zhane felt instantly guilty. "Sorry," he murmured. "That was low."

Andros shook his head, not meeting his gaze. "That was true," he corrected softly. 

There were no more words while they waited for Delphinius and Cetaci to join them.

***

The ceiling seemed farther away than usual. Perhaps the grey metal generated some sort of optical illusion to which she was no longer accustomed. Perhaps the hostel rooms had low ceilings and she'd never noticed until now. Or maybe she'd just been staring up at it for too long.

"DECA," Kerone said aloud. "What time is it?"

"ETA is 34 minutes," DECA replied, answering the question she'd meant to ask rather than the one that had actually come out of her mouth.

With a sigh, she swung one hand over the edge of her bunk and fumbled for Andros' telekinesis ball. Clearly, she wasn't going to fall asleep, so she might as well entertain herself. She'd swiped the toy from Andros' quarters several weeks ago, but it was a testament to how wrapped up he'd been in their work that he had yet to notice.

She tossed the multicolored sphere into the air and watched it expand. It hovered between her and the too-high ceiling, and she stared at it with as much concentration as she could muster. She imagined it floating away from her, bobbing gently toward the far wall the way it did when Ashley looked at it.

Nothing happened, of course, but she couldn't resist trying. She had tried almost every day since stealing the forgotten but fateful leftover from her childhood on KO-35, and each time the results had been the same. The harder she willed the ball to move, the more firmly it remained in place.

It hadn't always been that way. Kerone could remember moving the ball with her mind; she could even imagine it drifting away from her in her mind's eye. But she couldn't make it happen. Andros could do it. Zhane could do it. Even Ashley could do it... but not her.

She lifted one hand and pushed the ball away. Sitting up, she glanced up at DECA's camera. "DECA?" she asked the computer impulsively. "Who am I?"

The camera's red light blinked on, and she thought she could feel a hint of DECA's exasperation in that familiar gaze. "You are Kerone of KO-35," the computer answered. "Sorceress, Power Ranger, and Kerovan Council member."

It wasn't the first time she had asked that question aloud. She had asked it of herself, of Andros and Zhane, and of DECA several times. Last week she had even asked Ashley, and once upon a time she had asked Saryn. The Phantom Ranger was the only one who hadn't had an answer, but she'd had the feeling that he'd given it more thought than the rest of them combined.

She had an answer. It just wasn't an answer she was particularly satisfied with. She supposed she didn't want to know who she was as much as who she should be. But then, Ashley liked to tell her, "You don't choose what to be. You become what you are," and that had always seemed like good advice.

Kerone got to her feet and reached for the telekinesis ball. "DECA?" she asked again, letting the toy collapse in on itself. "Do you have access to the Keyota security logs?"

DECA seemed to hesitate, but it was such a brief pause that Kerone wondered if she'd imagined it. "KOSN's files are routinely uploaded to my mainframe as a matter of system fleet procedure," the computer told her.

Surprised, Kerone set Andros' telekinesis ball aside and made her way over to the computer terminal. "Can you show me the files from the day Darkonda kidnapped me?" she wanted to know.

This time, the hesitation was obvious. "No," DECA said, with every indication of regret. "I can not display those files on this terminal. They have been buried by Ranger request, and I am not authorized to override the encryption code."

She frowned, but she hadn't missed the precise wording of DECA's remark. "You can't display them on this terminal? What about Andros' terminal? Is he the one who asked you to encrypt them?"

"That information is classified," DECA answered. She sounded downright apologetic. "I am unable to answer your questions."

Kerone didn't waste another moment in heading for the door. "That's all right. I know my brother's guilt complex as well as you do."

DECA's cameras lit up like sequential Christmas lights as they followed her down the corridor toward Andros' room. "That," the computer responded with a touch of humor, "I doubt very much."

Andros' door opened at her approach, and she frowned a little. It was strange that he'd left the privacy lock off after their last trip to Eltare, but maybe they'd all been a little bit... disconcerted, after that meeting. She settled down in front of his terminal and put in the code she'd memorized over his shoulder, fully expecting to be given the files without further difficulty.

She wasn't disappointed. The logs were there in their entirety, but she was distracted by a second encryption below the first. "DECA?" she asked curiously. "Did Andros do this, too?"

DECA did not answer immediately. When she did, it was clear that she did not relish withholding information. "Andros is not the only Ranger who might wish to forget something in his past," she said at last. "Or to have others forget."

"Saryn," Kerone murmured, staring at the screen thoughtfully. "Or Zhane." There wouldn't be much on the others in the computer anyway, even if they did have the technical expertise to encode data this thoroughly.

"ETA is 12 minutes," DECA reminded her. 

Whether it was a diversion or not, the announcement was welcome news. Kerone sent the encryption key to her own terminal before shutting Andros' down and getting to her feet. She made her way back to her own room, verified receipt of the key, and set about locating the kittens.

It was truly amazing how easily they could hide in a room so small, she reflected several minutes later. She had brought them along because she knew Ashley would want to see them, but after hauling one out from under her bed and the other from behind the bottom drawer of her desk she wondered if they were worth the trouble. They seemed to sense the most convenient option in any given situation and then instinctively do the opposite.

They settled into their cat backpack with surprisingly little fuss, though, and she wondered if they knew where she was taking them. "What time is it in Angel Grove, DECA?" Kerone asked, tightening the shoulder straps a little. Ashley was the one who usually wore the kittens' pack.

"Angel Grove time is 6:07 am," the computer answered. "Do you require new coordinates?"

"Yes," Kerone admitted, "but I'll get them from the surface. I think Ashley has a roommate, and I don't want to startle her."

She had never seen the place where Ashley was now living, but luckily she did know someone who could direct her. They had visited Ashley's brother twice over the summer, and there was a secluded spot behind his building that she had filed away for future reference. It was to that space that she teleported now, noting absently that the sun was up but there didn't seem to be much activity on the streets yet. 

She knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Kerone waited, wondering if everyone could already be up and gone. She knocked again, glancing around at the vehicles parked outside the combined housing units. There were an awful lot of them for a place that seemed deserted, but Ashley had said that a lot of people at the university didn't drive. Maybe they had all walked to their destinations.

She knocked once more and was just about to turn away when she heard something click on the other side of the door. Finally the door swung open, and an extremely disheveled looking girl squinted out at her. "Yeah?" she asked groggily.

"Hello," Kerone said politely. "I'm looking for Jeff Hammond."

The girl just stared at her for a moment. Kerone looked back, taking in the tousled hair, pajama-like clothes, and non-comprehending expression. Finally, the other girl muttered, "He's still in bed."

When she didn't seem inclined to add anything else, Kerone prompted, "Could you get him for me?"

The girl frowned, her gaze focusing on something over Kerone's shoulder. "It's six o'clock in the morning," she mumbled, as though Kerone might not have known that. "He's asleep."

Kerone raised an eyebrow. "Then wake him up. Tell him that Kerone wants to talk to him, and if he doesn't get down here right now I'll use my magic powers to turn him into a frog."

The girl just sighed, mumbling to herself as she turned away and shuffled off into the darkness. She left the door ajar behind her, though, and Kerone assumed that she was actually doing as she was told instead of demonstrating an incredible bout of laziness. Was it possible that everyone in this complex was actually sleeping instead of being off on daily errands?

It was a few minutes before Jeff pulled the door open for her, and she contemplated his appearance in light of this new thought. He did indeed look as though he had been roused unexpectedly from sleep, though his disposition was considerably friendlier than the girl's had been. 

"Morning," he greeted her amiably. "I hear you're threatening to turn me into a frog."

She shrugged. "It always works on Zhane."

"Could you really do that?" he asked, genuine curiosity on his face. "Turn someone into a frog, I mean?"

"Probably not," she admitted. "I never tried it."

"Well, let me know," he said, a smile warring with a yawn. "I have a few people I'd like taken care off, if you want some test subjects."

The corners of her mouth quirked in response. "I'll remember that. Does everyone around here sleep through sunrise?"

He eyed her. "This coming from Andros' sister? The boy who can't drag himself out of bed before ten in the morning?"

"He's used to Kerovan time," she said defensively. "KO-35's days are shorter than yours."

"Doesn't seem to bother you," Jeff observed, leaning against the doorframe and stifling another yawn.

"I didn't grow up on KO-35," she reminded him. "I'm sorry to wake you up, but I'm looking for Ashley. I need directions so I don't teleport into the middle of... civilians."

"You're going to turn me into a frog, but you don't want to freak out Ashley's friends by appearing out of thin air?" he teased. "Thanks; I know where I stand in the pecking order."

"Rather close to the bottom," she told him frankly.

His smile widened, and he gave her a devilish grin that reminded her of Zhane. "You mean there's someone below me now? I'm flattered!"

"DECA likes you," she said matter-of-factly. "That moves you up."

He blinked, but his grin didn't waver. "DECA likes me, huh? Well, now I know I'm getting somewhere in the world. That puts me, what--second from the bottom?"

"Fourteenth from the top," Kerone corrected, trying to hide a smirk. "Are you going to tell me how to find Ashley, or should I start randomly kidnapping people until I find someone else who can do it?"

Jeff's smile faded a little at that, and he gave her a look of wary amusement. "I'm never sure when you're serious," he said at last. "So to spare the early morning pedestrians, let me draw you a map."

His map was as comprehensive as she could have asked for, even to someone unfamiliar with the city. Ladd Hall was locked, which Jeff had both warned her about and suggested would pose no problem for her sorcery. She let herself in and made her way up to the third floor, reminding the kittens to be silent as she moved soundlessly through the deserted hallway.

Room 314 was at the far end of the hall, and it was already brightly covered with two names and an assortment of suns and rainbows. Kerone smiled to herself, studying the second name carefully. It seemed that whoever she was, at least this "Missy" shared Ashley's taste in absurdedly cheerful decorations.

She knocked quietly, remembering the number of sleeping inhabitants in Jeff's apartment. To her surprise, though, an answer came almost immediately. A voice that didn't sound quite like Ashley's called, "Come in," and she twisted the doorknob hesitantly before pushing the door open.

A girl with long blonde hair puddled around her head perched upside down against the far wall. "Namaste," she said, as though she greeted visitors this way all the time. "My roommate's asleep."

Kerone glanced over at the other bed. Ashley was stirring at the sound of the voice, low though it was, and Kerone walked over to stand beside her. "I brought some friends to see you," she said quietly, reaching over one shoulder to pat the top of the kitty pack. The brown kitten climbed out onto her shoulder obediently, and she picked him up and set him on Ashley's stomach.

Ashley's eyes opened at that, her hands searching instinctively for the bundle of fur that was climbing over her and trying to investigate the space below the covers. "Hi, Katana," she mumbled, pulling the kitten clumsily toward her face. "Hi Kerone."

"Hello," Kerone answered, smiling down at her. "We missed you, so we came to see how you're doing."

"I missed you, too," Ashley murmured, struggling to sit up. She seemed to remember where she was as she glanced around the room, and her eyes lit upon her roommate as she snuggled Katana up to her cheek.

The other girl was still standing on her head, braced against the wall under the windows, watching the scene with a sort of detached interest. "Morning, Missy," Ashley said, giving her a sleepy smile through a faceful of kitten. "Kerone, this is my roommate Missy. Missy, this is Kerone, a friend of mine."

Prompted by the reaction from Jeff's roommate, Kerone added, "I'm a sorceress from another planet, but I can't turn people into frogs."

"That's too bad," Missy said, without batting an eye. "Frogs take up less space. It's nice to meet you, Kerone."

"Nice to meet you too," Kerone agreed. "Do you mind if I kidnap your roommate for a while?"

"Did the cats tell you to do that?" Missy asked, not moving from her position against the wall.

Kerone blinked. "The cats?"

Missy gave a credible impression of a shrug. "I've heard that cats are messengers from the spirit world, and Ashley looks like she's been waiting for a message."

"No," Kerone said, glancing at Ashley. "The cats didn't tell me to kidnap her."

"Ah." Missy continued to watch them, but she said nothing else.

Ashley was already pulling some clothes out of a bureau by the end of her bed, her movements slow but deliberate. "Give me just a minute," she said over her shoulder, tossing a brush on top of the clothes she'd accumulated and pulling her hair away from her face. "I'll be right there."

"Do you have classes this morning?" Kerone asked, trying to remember the schedule Ashley had described so hastily days before.

"Not till tomorrow." Ashley deftly removed her t-shirt from Katana's inquisitive grasp and pulled it on over her head. "Did you guys actually take your day off today?"

"I did," Kerone said with a frown. "Andros wasn't planning to, but I think Zhane convinced him. He's more patient than I am."

Ashley finished buttoning her shorts and sat down to pull on her sneakers. "Patience probably didn't have anything to do with it. Zhane's more audacious than we are; I bet he locked Andros in their room and went back to sleep."

"Are you saying that I'm not audacious?" Kerone demanded. "I think Dark Spectre might have disagreed with you."

Ashley shot a look in her roommate's direction as she stood up and grabbed Katana off the bed. "Let's go for a walk," she suggested, heading toward the door. "I'll see you later, Missy."

"See you," the other girl agreed, from her upside-down position. "Don't forget to tell me what the cats say."

_fin_


	3. Ranger Status

_Disclaimer: SOTPR, though not the line I stole from a car commercial. T-shirts on the tree lot and sandals in the snow, plus a beagle puppy and an indoor kitty cat. "And I think to myself, 'this world is a wonderful place'"_

**

Ranger Status  
by Starhawk

**

The light flooding into the bathroom was suddenly reduced as a familiar shadow darkened the bedroom doorway. Cassie held up her hand and wiggled her fingers over her shoulder as she bent down to spit out the rinse that cleaned her teeth. Saryn was watching her in the mirror when she straightened up, and she smiled back at him.

"Good morning," he mumbled, and the sleep that clouded his voice was so unusual that her smile faded a little.

"Morning," she answered, tilting her head for a kiss as though she had noticed nothing amiss.

He obliged, but the silent calm that teased the edges of her awareness told her he was blocking. That he could successfully shield his emotions this early in the morning was testament to his steadily increasing control, but it didn't give her any clue as to what might be troubling him.

Saryn ran a thumb across her cheek tenderly before slipping past her to take her place at the sink, and she smiled involuntarily. As she watched him ignore his reflection, though, not to mention hers, she wondered, "Did you sleep all right?" 

He stilled at the question, and she tried not to frown. He hadn't had nightmares for some time now, and she'd finally grown used to sleeping through the night without them. If the old ghosts were haunting him again, she wasn't sure whether that or the fact that she hadn't woken disturbed her more. 

"My dreams..." He trailed off, but he lifted his head to catch her eye in the mirror at last. There was tired confusion in his voice, but his expression was at least as thoughtful as it was disturbed. "My dreams were not entirely pleasant."

"I'm sorry," Cassie murmured, remembering how those dreams used to hurt. She cast back over the last few days, wondering what could have made them return.

He shook his head, turning away from the sink to smile reassuringly at her. "These weren't dreams of the past; you would have known. These were different."

She couldn't help but feel relieved. "What did you dream about, then?" she wanted to know. "And more than once?"

"More than once," he agreed, a frown settling on his face. "I saw... our children. They were in trouble--"

The sound of a muffled crash reached them through the closed door, and Jetson's bark followed almost immediately. She shot an apologetic glance in Saryn's direction as she caught the door and tugged it open, and she pretended not to see him roll his eyes. She didn't mean to interrupt, but with the amount of hard copy in the living area they couldn't afford to ignore the disturbance.

Leaning around the doorframe, the scene outside made her smile. For once it wasn't Jetson creating the havoc, though he had a familiar accomplice. Waif-thin and as innocent looking as they came, little Shei sat amid a pile of coats and blankets with a bewildered expression on her face. She looked as though she was trying to decide whether to cry or giggle, and crying was rapidly winning out.

"Shei!" It was part greeting and part distraction, and she hurried out to scoop the little girl up in her arms. "I'm sure we've told you not to climb on the coat rack. Are you okay? Thanks, Jetson," she added over her shoulder, as the yellow lab came wagging up behind her.

"Cassie, have you seen--" Raine's voice was distracted, but she broke off abruptly as Cassie turned to face the open courtyard doorway. Shei squirmed in her arms, and the Green Ranger relaxed visibly at the sight of her errant daughter.

"Zela. Shei," she said sternly. It was one name, but the girl's mother managed to make it sound like two. "What kind of mayhem are you causing this time?"

"The same sort of mayhem that's usually caused by our dog," Saryn offered, from where he was lounging in the bathroom doorway. "We almost didn't notice she was here."

Cassie gave him a dirty look, and, more awake now, he smirked at her.

"I'm sorry if she woke you," Raine apologized, taking in Saryn's appearance for the first time. Shirtless and still a bit tired looking, he didn't look like someone who'd gotten quite enough sleep the night before. "The door was open, and she likes to wander..."

"I opened it when I got up," Cassie said quickly. "It's fine; you know we like seeing her."

The Green Elisian Ranger sighed, shaking her head fondly at her daughter as Cassie handed her over. "She'll be better company once she grows out of this destructive phase," she promised. "At least," she added, catching Cassie's eye, "I hope she will."

Cassie laughed. "She's good company now," she assured the other Ranger. "Are you coming to breakfast?"

Raine bounced her daughter a little higher in her arms with a smile. "We'll be there. Azmuth just got back from Calijyt, so it'll be the whole family this morning."

"Good," Cassie said with an answering smile. "We'll see you there, then."

Shei, who had quieted as soon as she found herself in her mother's arms, started to squirm again. Raine nuzzled her cheek and nodded toward Cassie. "Wave to Aunt Cassie, Shei... go ahead, wave goodbye!"

Cassie grinned and waved to the little girl, who tentatively lifted her hand before reaching around to grab her mother's fingers and wave them energetically. Raine laughed, waving to both Cassie and Saryn on her way out. "Thanks for watching her," she called over her shoulder.

"Thanks for disturbing our peace," Saryn answered, quietly enough that it wouldn't carry to Raine's ears. "We appreciate the intrusion, truly."

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Grouch," she accused. "You must have an allergic reaction to nightmares. Now I know why it used to be so hard to be around you."

"Possibly because there were quantrons kidnapping us, beating us, or shooting at us every time we turned around," Saryn suggested.

"That might have been part of it," she admitted, trying not to smile as she advanced on him. He hadn't moved from his position in the doorway, but he was watching her through half-closed eyes. "But I think it was the insomnia. I never seemed to get any sleep around you."

"With good reason," he retorted, a lazy smile playing over his lips.

"Oh, we never got over *that*," she said with a giggle, letting him pull her into his arms. "I meant the nightmares. What's all this about children and bad things happening to them?"

His smug expression faltered, and for a moment he looked worried. Then he shook his head and that too started to fade. "I'm... I'm not sure," he said at last. "I don't remember. We had children, I think, and they were--something was threatening them, but that's all I remember."

"All good nightmares fade," Cassie murmured, hugging him reassuringly. "Children, though... more than one, huh? If you remember anything else about them, let me know," she teased, turning her face toward his for a kiss.

He smiled, and this time she could feel some of what he felt when their mouths met. He was content in her presence, amused in spite of his words by Shei's visit, hungry, and a little irritable because of it. She knew the sharing wasn't an accident; he had intentionally let his shields slip and she was glad.

He was kissing her again when the comm chimed, and for an instant she considered ignoring it. She knew from past experience that he would if she did; sometimes she wondered how people got in touch with him at all when she wasn't around. But of course, he would remind her, that was what voice recorders were for.

"I'll get that," she murmured, stepping out of his embrace.

"No," he protested immediately, though he hadn't given any indication he cared a moment ago. "I don't mind."

She trailed her fingers across his bare chest as she moved past him into the living area. "Find a shirt first," she suggested with a small smile.

The seal of the Frontier Defense flashed across the comm screen the moment she activated it, and Cassie did her best not to roll her eyes. They hadn't even had breakfast and Tobin already wanted something. Someday, the man was going to get a life and she was going to find a way to interrupt it. Early. Late, too. And as often as possible.

"Good morning, Tobin," she said aloud, as the expected image appeared on the screen. Behind her, she felt more than heard Saryn disappearing into the bathroom again.

"Cassie," he replied. His tone was even, but there was a friendliness in his eyes that made her flash a smile in return for his brief greeting. "How's life on Elisia?"

"Couldn't get much better," she answered promptly. She noticed with satisfaction that he had almost smiled back. Neither of the former Eltaran Rangers that shared governing power of the Frontier Defense with Saryn had liked her on sight, but they were finally learning to work together. Tobin was far more tolerant of her than Linnse was, history or no. "How about you?"

His eyes sobered at the question, though little else in his expression changed. It was funny how much he communicated without seeming to... funny how alike he and Saryn were in that respect. "I'm afraid there is--room for improvement," he said at last. "You may agree, when you hear what I have to tell Saryn."

They were both maddeningly cryptic, too, she thought. That was one quality she could have lived without. "He's on his way," she promised. "He's just--"

"I'm here," Saryn interrupted, and she turned in time to see him emerging from the bathroom. He was pulling a short-sleeve tunic over his shoulders as he came, and she watched fondly as he flipped his hair over the collar before tugging the shirt closed. 

He caught her eye as he lifted his head, and Cassie made little snipping motions with her fingers. Saryn gave her a dark look and she tried not to grin. She'd been threatening to cut his hair for weeks now, but she hadn't gotten around to it yet. She couldn't tell if it was the actual threat or the anticipation that made him glare whenever she mentioned it.

"Saryn." Tobin's greeting for his friend of five years was almost as noncommittal as the one he'd given her. "The Defense will have to convene," he informed the other. Then again, Cassie reflected, the Eltaran wasn't one for small talk.

There was a sharp rap on the door behind her, and she turned to see Mirine swing inside without invitation. "Have you seen my helmet?" she demanded. "I know it's--"

Cassie put a finger to her lips and Mirine clapped a hand over her mouth as she caught a glimpse of the lit comm screen. Saryn was, to all outward appearances, ignoring them, but Cassie had caught a mental flare of chagrin at the mention of his sister's jetcycle helmet. She hid a grin and gestured Mirine toward the back door.

"I am not available until later today," Saryn was telling Tobin as they slipped out onto the shaded promenade that surrounded the compound. Cassie closed the door behind them, cutting off the conversation with some amount of disappointment. Tobin wasn't an alarmist and she wondered at something that he felt the need to warn her about, however indirectly.

"Thanks," Mirine said dryly, breaking into her musing. "You'd think if someone were going to snatch my helmet they could at least put it back where they found it."

Saryn's sister gave her a pointed look, and Cassie had to wince. "Sorry," she apologized, picking up the two helmets from the bench beside the back door. She handed the Pink Ranger's helmet back to her and keyed open the entrance to the recessed garage between their apartments. "We were in kind of a hurry last night. I meant to come back out and get them later, but..."

She trailed off at Mirine's knowing look, trying not to blush. "Well, I did mean to," she murmured. She was trying not to smile as she braced her weight behind the jetcycle and flipped the stabilizer off.

"Sure you did," Mirine grumbled good-naturedly. She went around to the other side to help push, and together the two of them wheeled Saryn's jetcycle back into the garage. "What happened to your helmet?" she wanted to know.

"I wish I knew," Cassie admitted, turning the stabilizer back on before letting go. She settled Saryn's helmet on top of the cycle and glanced around, as though hers would magically appear when she looked for it. "I haven't been able to find it for a few days now."

Mirine just rolled her eyes. "Saryn probably hid it so he'd have another excuse to swipe mine. You'd think he'd have outgrown that by now." 

"Yeah, speaking of that," Cassie remarked, her lips twitching. "He's missing his blue jacket again. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

The Pink Ranger grinned, unrepentant. "It's not his color anyway," she said. If it was an excuse, she conveniently overlooked the fact that it wasn't hers either. "Breakfast?"

Cassie hesitated, but Saryn would no doubt relate Tobin's message to the entire community center when he arrived. "Sounds good," she agreed, following Mirine toward the courtyard door.

Tossing her helmet in the direction of her own jetcycle, Mirine didn't even watch to see where it landed before tugging the door open. They stepped out into the bright sunlight of a desert dawn, the courtyard filled with sharp shadows as the nearly horizontal rays touched the compound for the first time since nightfall. Zelashei was still playing, though Raine was giving her the "come here or else" speech from the door of the community center and Azmuth was nowhere to be seen.

"Want some help?" Mirine called to Raine, and when the other grimaced in resigned acceptance she swooped down on the little girl and swept her off her feet. Ignoring the child's shrieks, she carried her across the courtyard to her mother.

Cassie followed more slowly, glancing back toward the still-open door of the place she shared with Saryn. He might have left it open when he went to breakfast, but more likely he was still inside setting up the conference with Tobin. She had almost convinced herself to go back and check when Nen ducked out of a doorway across the compound and called her name.

"Morning, Cassie!" he shouted cheerfully, and his good humor was so infectious that she found herself smiling again. "I like that color on you; you should wear it more often!"

She had to laugh. "I wear it every day, Nen," she reminded him as he caught up to her.

"That shade in particular," he insisted, bending over to sift sand through his fingers. "Here," he added, straightening and holding out a handful to her. "Feel how cold the sand is this morning!"

She giggled, but she accepted the handful of sand. "It is cool. Funny how that happens at night."

"Isn't it?" He gave her a look of delight and she wondered, not for the first time, what it was like to be inside his mind. He was as intelligent as any of them--more, she sometimes suspected--yet he let himself be amused by the smallest things. Was he ever bored? Or angry, or sarcastic? 

*Would we know if he was?* she wondered.

"Good morning, Mirine," Nen said lightly, putting a hand on her shoulder and slipping around her before she could get out of the doorway. "You look well-rested. 

"It's Zelashei!" he exclaimed, before she could answer. "My favorite almost-daughter!" He picked the little girl up and swung her around, finally tossing her over his shoulder and heading over to the table. "Well," he announced to no one in particular, "I've got my breakfast. What's everyone else having?"

"Nen," Raine scolded, and Mirine grinned at Cassie.

"I'd forgotten how much I missed having him around," Mirine confessed under her breath. "There's just no one else who'd threaten to eat Shei."

"And you think this is a good thing," Cassie teased, taking her arm and moving toward the kitchen side of the room. "Jealous?"

Mirine let out a breath of exasperation, a mannerism that reminded Cassie of her brother. "Can you imagine me with a kid? I'd either lock it up or throw it out the window--and that would just be the first day. Definitely no envy here."

"I won't be serving you breakfast simply because you're restraining our wayward daughter," Azmuth was informing Nen. "I hope you're aware of that."

"My darling Azmuth!" Nen's eyes were wide. "I would never presume upon your convenience in such a manner! Besides," he added, letting his imitation of her accent drop, "your 'wayward daughter' is unrestrainable, and we wouldn't have her any other way."

Cassie didn't question the sense that made her look over her shoulder just in time to see Saryn appear in the doorway. He said nothing to call attention to himself, not even bothering to step inside, but somehow he made his presence known. Mirine was the first to follow Cassie's gaze, and Shei, having wriggled free from Nen's arms, failed to distract either Nen or his brother Kyril from the shadow by the door.

Azmuth had probably noticed the moment Saryn arrived, her warrior instinct never failing to note the presence of another in close proximity, but Raine took a little longer. By the time she had gotten hold of Shei again and turned her attention toward the door, Cassie wondered what Tobin could possibly have said to warrant this kind of silence.

They waited expectantly until Saryn sighed and stepped out of the doorway, allowing the sun to spill into the common room again. "May I assume that I was in charge of breakfast this morning and someone forgot to tell me?" 

"You can assume that if you don't tell us what's going on you're going to wish you'd only forgotten breakfast," Cassie informed him. 

"You're projecting all over the place," Mirine agreed, staring at him. "What happened?"

Saryn didn't answer right away, though whether he was trying to shield his thoughts or find the words, it was impossible to tell. "It's the Kerovan Council," he said at last. His gaze met Cassie's, and she found herself holding her breath. "They want to disband the Astro Rangers."

***

"What!" Andros stared at the comm in disbelief. "He can't be serious!"

He felt Zhane shift uneasily behind him. "He's just talking about making it official, Andros. Calm down."

Andros spun, ignoring the rest of the recorded message to pin Zhane with his stare. "Did you know this was going to happen? Is this why you didn't want me at the council meeting this morning?"

"No!" Zhane's eyes were wide with surprise. "I swear I had no idea! I thought it was going to be another dull policy discussion."

Andros turned back to the comm with a muttered curse. "I'm calling Kinwon. I don't know how he could even think of going along with this."

"Andros..." Zhane's hand on his wrist kept him from activating the screen. "The Council just wants what's best for Kerova."

"And they're going to get it by breaking up the team that defends them?" Andros demanded. "What kind of warped logic is that?"

"The Astro Rangers aren't a team anymore," Zhane said, not letting go of his arm. His statement was outrageous, but he said it in such a matter-of-fact way that the import of the words was dulled. "And the team that we were never defended KO-35, let alone our sister planet."

Andros just stared at him, too shocked to formulate a reply.

Zhane let his hand fall, but his gaze didn't waver. "You know this was coming, Andros. You just didn't want to see it."

"How can you say that?" Andros sputtered. He jerked away, taking a few steps toward the other side of the room before turning to face Zhane again. He was too angry at this second betrayal to muster more than a token argument. "How can you say they're right?"

Zhane gave a half-shrug, but the tension in his stance belied his casual attitude. "I'm not saying they're right. I'm just saying that we haven't been a real team since before the Psychos, and you know it. The Council knows it too. It's not surprising they'd want to do something about it."

"Disbanding the Astro Rangers isn't going to fix their problem!"

"You know that's not what they really want," Zhane said quietly. His blue eyes wandered a little, and Andros was aware of his own clenched fists and hunched shoulders. He probably looked furious, but he couldn't bring himself to care. 

"Then tell me what they really want," he suggested, struggling to keep his tone even. His voice was as quiet as Zhane's, but it was a dangerous kind of quiet and Zhane's expression said he knew it.

"They want a new team."

"They have a team already!" Andros exploded. "They have seven people who'd give their lives for this planet and its people! What more do they want!"

"People who could get here in time to do some good if we were attacked," Zhane told him. "Let's face it, Andros, the Astro Rangers don't even have a base of operations anymore. We have nowhere to assemble, nowhere to coordinate, and half of us can't even get in touch with the other half if there's an emergency!"

Andros glared at him. "We've never had an ops base! The Megaship goes wherever it's needed; that's always been good enough!"

"We were living on a battleship, Andros! The entire team, all of the Astro Rangers and then some!" Zhane stopped abruptly, as if realizing he was shouting. He took a calming breath and went on, "The only reason it worked was because it had to. We had nowhere else to go, and most of the known universe was at war. But we haven't done that since the fighting stopped, and barring another Dark Spectre we'll never have to do it again."

Caught without words for the second time in as many minutes, Andros just looked at him. At last he said wonderingly, "You make it sound like it was the worst thing you ever did."

Zhane ran a hand through his hair, his gaze sliding away. "Of course it wasn't," he muttered, and the weariness in his voice caught Andros by surprise. "It was great, but it's over now. The universe has changed, and we can't go back to the way it was. We have to change with it."

Something in the way Zhane had looked away made Andros hesitate. "You think we should let them break the team up, then."

Zhane's eyes snapped back to his and Andros flinched at the unconcealed anger in that sharp gaze. "There is no team! There's you and there's me and there's Astrea! Maybe someone forgot to tell you, but Dark Spectre's gone. KO-35 is free. The war is over, Andros! When are you going to stop fighting it?"

"I'm not fighting," Andros said with a frown. He fought the urge to take a step back at the bitterness that flashed across Zhane's face.

"All you do is fight! For Kerone, for the colony, for Earth, and now for... for--" Zhane gestured wildly, turning as if to leave and then aborting the motion. "I don't even know what you're fighting for now! When is it enough?"

Unsettled, Andros fell back on the first remark that sprang to mind. "'If we all settled for good enough, would anything ever be good enough?'"

"'If we can't find happiness in ourselves, how can we expect to find it in anyone else?'" Zhane shot back. "Don't quote philosophy to me, Andros! This is about you and me and everyone else you've ignored for the sake of your own private war!"

Andros gaped at him. "*My* war? Since when did this become my war?"

"Since the rest of the universe got over it! Since Dark Spectre died and Eltare came back and the Border declared an end to martial law! Do you know what the last Ranger conference was like?

"No," Zhane answered his own question, "of course you don't, because you were too busy holding the Council's hand to go. It was like a nursery! There wasn't a quiet moment; every time you turned around there was another baby crying or chirping or photosynthesizing or something! No one else is at war anymore, Andros--no one but you!"

"I'm not at war with anyone!" Andros exclaimed. "Just because I don't want the Council to take morphers away from people I swore would have access to them for as long as they wanted doesn't mean I'm stuck in the past!"

With unusual venom, Zhane reminded him, "They don't belong to you."

"No," Andros agreed numbly. When was the last time Zhane had consciously tried to hurt him, even with words? "They belong to TJ and Ashley and Cassie and Carlos. You weren't there; you don't know... the Power chose them, Zhane. Those morphers belong to them."

"No, I wasn't there." Zhane folded his arms across his chest. "And for all you care, I might as well not be here now. I didn't mean the morphers, you know, I meant the Rangers. Does TJ even want his morpher anymore? Does Cassie? Would you know if they did?

"Even if they do," Zhane added, when Andros didn't answer. "Who are you to deny the Kerovan system a team--a *resident* team--so that people in another galaxy can have Power to play with?"

Andros glared at him. "They're not 'people'; they're our friends!"

"So why don't you ask them!" Zhane shouted. "Why don't you ask them what they think about it before you call up the Council and yell at them for daring to question your perfect wisdom!"

They just stared at each other for a moment, eyes narrowed, defenses at the ready. When Andros realized what they were doing, he dropped his gaze and shifted uncomfortably. "What did you mean," he muttered at last, his mind latching on to one of Zhane's comments and refusing to let go. "About me not caring that you're here. You know that's not true."

Zhane was silent, not moving as he considered the almost-apology. Slowly, his fighting stance started to relax and he lifted one hand to his already tousled hair. "Nothing," he said with a sigh. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"No," Andros insisted, catching his friend's eye again. "You did." Uncertain, he looked a little closer at Zhane, trying to see past the façade. "You said something this morning, too. You--you called KO-35 my home, not yours."

"My home is with you," Zhane said steadily. "I told you that when I woke up. I never lost that, Andros."

"Until now?" He felt like they weren't really his words; he was just giving form to the thoughts hanging in the air between them. "Is that why you're so upset?" he asked, more quietly. "Because I'm ignoring everyone that matters?"

Zhane just shrugged, but the answer was there on his face. "It's up to you to decide who matters," he said at last, and the declaration sent chills up Andros' spine.

"You," he said fiercely. "You matter. Zhane..." He swallowed, but he owed his friend the truth. "I lost you once. I don't think I could do it again."

"Hell, Andros, you can't lose me." Zhane gave him a rueful grin, though whether for the choice of words or the sentiment it was hard to tell. "You know I'd follow you anywhere."

With that, Andros made up his mind. "We'd better get to Earth, then." Reaching for his communicator, he felt a weight slide off of his heart as he saw Zhane do the same. "We have some friends to see."

***

"Flitter Amaron 3547 has been removed from the planetary traffic grid pending investigation," the terminal informed her. There was no video feed, only a still image of the Coralside Transport Authority logo and a text version of the message to which she found herself listening. "The registered pilot may report for re-education or be summoned for license inspection."

A timestamp hovered in the bottom corner of the screen even after the transmission concluded, and she frowned at it thoughtfully. She ought to have downloaded her flitter data earlier, but it hadn't occurred to her that there could be anything time-sensitive in the little vehicle's computer. Someone at the CTA didn't like her, it seemed... or perhaps it was a new and unusually obtuse employee that had forgotten to filter the latest reprimands.

"Moving violation?" Carlos drawled, not moving from his place on her bed. Lying on his back, he held a datapad over his head and a forgotten stylus in the other hand. He was staring at the pad with a single-minded determination that she had thought might preclude his eavesdropping.

"So it would seem," she agreed, allowing the amusement to creep into her voice. "I wonder what the reaction would be if I chose to attend re-education."

"Someone forget to run the tickets past their Ranger scanner?" Carlos suggested. He lifted the stylus and did something to the display, but she couldn't tell if he was actually correcting something or just doodling. "Since when do you guys get busted for bad driving, anyway?"

Aura turned to regard him. "My flitting skills are not at issue here," she reminded him. "I am an excellent pilot."

He didn't look at her, but she could hear the smirk in his voice when he remarked, "Yeah, that's why the cops are leaving you voice mail. In California, you have to be pretty delinquent before the police actually call your house."

"This message was attached to my flit, not to me." He knew that perfectly well; she didn't know why she was letting him bait her like this. "If they had known the pilot was a Ranger--"

"Yeah, like they don't have every flit registration in the history of the world on record," Carlos interrupted. "They knew it was you. They're probably just tired of seeing your numbers come up every other week.

"You know," he added, rolling over onto his stomach to catch her eye. "Back home we call what you do 'driving to endanger'."

She bristled. She couldn't help it. "There was no one at risk!"

"I'm not talking about the rest of the city," he said with a grin. "I'm talking about me. You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days."

Her lips twitched involuntarily. "There is nothing substandard about my ability," she insisted. "If my adherence to law leaves something to be desired, it is certainly no reflection on my skill."

Carlos rolled his eyes. "Tell that to the CTA, then," he advised, glancing down at the datapad again. "They can make that their new motto. 'Who needs laws when you have pride?'"

She watched him play with the stylus for a moment before turning back to the messages she'd retrieved. "It is not the spirit of the law so much as the specifics that I take issue with," she murmured, calling up the next transmission.

She saw Carlos lift his head out of the corner of her eye and felt his dark gaze studying her as she watched the symbol of the Falls flow across her screen. She spared another glance in his direction, wondering what indiscretion he would remind her of now. But he looked down again even as she glanced at him, a small smile on his face as he returned to the fuel conversion ratios.

Cestria's voice distracted her enough that she didn't ask, but it didn't keep her from wondering as she looked back at the screen. Her teammate was dressed in teal and gold, her Keeper clothes accented by only the faintest trace of yellow. What was he smiling about?

"Greetings, Aura." Cestria's countenance was serene, yet familiar in a way that the Keeper-turned-Ranger reserved for her closest friends. "I must tell you that I will not see you in Control this afternoon. A parasite has infested one of the pools, and it must be taken care of before the infection spreads."

Aura saw Carlos look up again, but he didn't say anything until Cestria wished her a good day and signed off. "Does she need help?" he asked then, real concern in his voice. "With the flow between those pools, it wouldn't take long for something like that to get out of control."

She contemplated the screen as though the Keeper of the Falls might reappear and answer herself, but finally she shook her head. A human mannerism, a part of her mind noted distantly. "She would have asked for assistance if she needed it," she said at last. "She must have enough visitors that it's unnecessary." Anyone already at the Eternal Falls would help without complaint, she knew.

She could feel his eyes on her, and she looked over at him questioningly. 

"You're sure," he said, searching her expression.

Touched by his concern, she smiled a little. "Cestria is not one to ignore the truth, as you know. If she needs us, she will say so."

He nodded, gaze flicking to the screen before he went back to the conversions on the pad in front of him. This time, she allowed herself to watch him for more than just a moment. His dark hair had been cut short--he said it dried faster--and he was, if possible, a fraction taller than he'd been when they first met. His demeanor had changed, too... he was as intense as ever, but it was a focus that that had been tempered by perspective.

He wasn't the heedless, humanocentric Earther who had once been shocked by the idea that an alien could fall for him. She doubted if he even thought of her as alien anymore. He certainly wasn't to her. "Earther" didn't even apply to him now, not really. The semi-derogatory term for their nearest and most oblivious League neighbors was something she could no longer hear without wincing, though she knew he was aware of the term and had mockingly applied it to himself on more than one occasion.

Carlos looked up, catching her eye and raising an eyebrow. "What?" he asked, that lurking smile back in his expression. "Reading my mind again?"

"Should I have been?" she countered, and his smile widened into a grin.

"Probably." He held the datapad out to her and added, "Here, check my calculations. I think I've got it." 

She took one look at the pad and frowned. "It's in English."

He crossed his arms on the bed and rested his chin on them. "So? You can read numbers as well as the next person."

"Numbers, yes," she agreed, handing it back to him. "Your handwriting, no. Translate."

With an exaggerated sigh, he sat up and took the pad from her hand. "Be that way," he muttered, but there was a fondness in his tone that gave the lie to his words.

She let the last message on her terminal run, and the Ranger logo flashed onto the screen. "Aura," Cetaci's voice said, not bothering with pleasantries. "Where's Carlos? The Border's about to make trouble. The Defense's newest member has demands; there's a message from Saryn on the Control log."

The screen winked out, leaving only the logo and a timestamp before they too faded into nothingness. Her terminal log replaced the blank screen, indicating that all waiting transmissions had been viewed, but she could only gaze at it in surprise. Cetaci rarely inquired after Carlos, and incident's uniqueness was second only to the idea of the Border "making trouble". For whom? And over what?

"What was that about?" Carlos asked, sounding as puzzled as she felt. "The Defense's newest member?"

"I can only assume she refers to the Kerovan system." The idea that the twin colony worlds of Kerova would be responsible for political dissent, especially in an organization as decentralized as the Frontier Defense, was almost laughable. KO-35 and RS-42 were introverted to the point of isolationism, and she couldn't imagine them making any "demands" that their new allies were not fully prepared to meet.

"Why'd she ask about me?" Carlos wanted to know. "This isn't a new habit of hers, is it?"

Aura had to smile a little at the wariness in his tone. "Not to my knowledge."

"Good," he said, with obvious relief. "She must think I have something to do with this, then. Too bad she's not right," he added, as an afterthought. "Then I might have some idea what's going on."

Reaching a decision, Aura stood. "We can find out," she reminded him. "Let us review Saryn's message before we begin second-guessing Cetaci."

"But it's so easy," he said with a grin. At her look, though, he tossed the datapad and stylus down on the bed and clambered to his feet. "Right; Control, check. Let's go."

***

"They're not really supposed to be in the dorm at all," Ashley remarked, leading the way up the stairs toward the third floor. "Even visiting. But since the RA on our floor has a ferret, she can't really say anything."

"A ferret?" Kerone repeated. She sounded as though she was trying the word out. "I don't think I know what a ferret is."

"It's a cute furry thing," Ashley said over her shoulder, stopping at the water fountain on the second floor before continuing. "Kind of like a cross between a really short cat and a long mouse. I'll ask Kihrti if you can see her."

"We could bring the kittens with us and introduce them." Kerone's voice had that mild neutrality about it that was impossible to read. She could have been joking or deadly serious and it would have sounded exactly the same.

Ashley giggled, trying to picture such an encounter. "That's probably not a good idea. Kihrti thinks anything bigger than a ferret is a wild animal. I don't think she'd buy the whole mind control thing."

"It's not mind control," Kerone objected indignantly. "I just ask them to do something, and sometimes they do it. It's communication, that's all."

"Like when you told them to go to sleep, earlier?" Ashley looked back to catch her friend's expression as they stepped onto the third floor landing. The kittens had returned to DECA's supervision after an early morning playtime in the out of doors, but they had come up again in conversation when Kerone and Ashley came back to the dorm hours later.

"They were tired," the sorceress said defensively. "Besides, they had to calm down or DECA would have locked them up."

Ashley paused outside her door, staring at the laminated wrapping paper that served as her and Missy's message board. It had been blank when she left, but now it looked like someone had used it as scratch paper for the Great American Novel. Several someones.

__

Ashley, the message in the center of the board read. _We need to talk. Weird things are happening at home, and I want to know what you think about them. Zhane and I are downstairs whenever you get back._

As if she wouldn't recognize Andros' handwriting with her eyes closed, he had signed the note with large, unmistakable letters and a little sun beside an X. She smiled to herself, reaching out to touch the "XO" with her fingers. She had taught him the shorthand for "kiss and hug" last spring, but he had always made the hug into a sun and it was as endearing as it was inexplicable.

"It's like a convention," Kerone observed, breaking into her reverie. She was scanning the rest of the board, and Ashley followed her gaze. There was an almost illegible message in the upper left, and it took a moment to decipher Carlos' words.

__

Ash: Just heard from Saryn. Came back to give you guys the heads up; looks like Andros beat us to it. Dinner tonight @ 6?

There was a scribble beneath that had to be his signature, and a darker squiggle beside it that made Ashley squint her eyes until she realized it wasn't the same language. Aura had signed her name next to his, and Ashley's smile widened as she saw Tessa's precise lettering directly beneath their names. Was there anyone who hadn't been by today?

__

Hi, Tessa's message read. _What's going on? Can I help? TJ's on campus till five, but I'll tell him to stay after work if you want._

That was all; no excuse for stopping by and no instruction to return the visit. The other note on the door was for Missy, and Ashley wondered briefly what her roommate had thought of the flurry of messages. If she'd even seen them... It was entirely possible Missy had gone out for the day; she'd forgotten to ask when she left that morning.

Kerone was staring at her, and after a few seconds she realized that she was staring back. In that gaze they managed to communicate amusement, worry, and mutual lack of information about whatever situation had come up while they were gone. Ashley reached for the doorknob and punched her combination into the lock, pushing the door open without another word.

The first thing she did was pick up the phone, and sure enough, the dial tone was stuttering. "Voice mail," she said for Kerone's benefit as she dialed the system number. "I'll see who it's from and then we can go find them."

"Message received 12:37," the synthesized voice informed her when she logged in. "Twenty seconds. Return path unknown."

Off campus, she thought, and a moment later her father's voice confirmed it. "Hi, Ash," she said aloud, repeating the words as she heard them. "It's Dad. You got a message from Cassie this morning, and it sounds important. She says--well, I'm not exactly sure what she says, but you'd better give it a listen when you have the chance." 

Letting the phone drop, she added, "I hope you're having a good day, see you soon, bye." Setting it back in the cradle she complained half-heartedly, "My *dad* knows something's going on before I do. This is bad."

"Then why didn't he tell you?" Kerone demanded, her tone full of exasperation. "Why didn't he relay Cassie's message?"

Ashley made a face. "We don't have private voice mail. Missy and I log into the same account, so we both hear each other's messages."

Kerone gave her an impatient look, the word "so?" clear in her eyes.

"Secret identities?" Ashley reminded her. "Trying not to spread the whole Ranger thing around?"

"Still?" Kerone gave every impression of rolling her eyes without actually doing it. "I truly don't understand how you've managed to do it this long." Then she frowned. "And Aura?"

"Friend of Carlos'," Ashley said with a shrug. "Met while the Aquitians were defending Earth last fall, fell in love, stopped hiding from the cameras. Alien girlfriend, yes, but Power Ranger? No more than any of the rest of us."

"No more than the rest of you, indeed," Kerone muttered, glancing toward the door. "That explains why the notes on the door are so cryptic, then."

"Yeah." Ashley frowned, wishing she had the slightest clue what could have happened. Wishing the thought of seeing Andros didn't completely overshadow her curiosity. "We'd better go find them."

The main doors opened onto the first floor lounge, and Ashley assumed that was what Andros meant by "downstairs". As good as he was, even Andros probably couldn't hang around a narrow hallway indefinitely without looking conspicuous. And he certainly couldn't do it with Zhane in tow. They must have seen the common area when they came in--never having been there before, they wouldn't have known to use the side doors for faster access to the stairs--and correctly pegged it as a good lurking spot. 

Despite the logic, though, the lounge was deserted when she and Kerone arrived. They exchanged bemused glances, and Ashley was about to go in just to convince herself that it was really empty when Kerone cocked her head meaningfully. Ashley paused, listening more closely... and then she heard it. The click and bang of plastic on wood across the hall was punctuated by the more familiar sound of Andros' voice.

"--being a Ranger, I mean," he was saying. There was a moment where the only noise was the clicking and something that sounded like a couple of punches being thrown at a hollow wall. "Did you really think it was great?"

Ashley froze, and when she dared to look at Kerone again she found the other girl's eyes wide. The voices were coming from the dorm's makeshift kitchen. Ashley had inspected it the day before and found it to contain only a sink, toaster, and microwave. It was used more as a place to store the foosball table than for cooking, but it did give the illusion of privacy for those who wanted to be out of the mainstream.

"I thought being with you was great," Zhane's voice answered at last. "But you know I was never really Ranger material."

She hadn't really thought about moving toward the kitchenette, but she found herself just outside the door with no desire to announce her presence just yet. Kerone was right beside her, just as silent, and somehow that made it seem less wrong. It did occur to her that there might be a fundamental problem with using the former princess of evil as her moral compass, but she decided not to dwell on it.

"My point," Zhane was saying, in the sudden absence of clicks and bangs.

"You can't believe that, Zhane." Andros sounded troubled. "Of course you're meant to be a Ranger. The Power chose you."

There was another hollow sound, and the clicking started again. "It chose me because I'm loyal," Zhane said, a distracted note in his voice. "Because I needed it, not because I'm a warrior. You know that."

"Stop telling me what I know," Andros retorted. There was the sound of spinning metal and another bang, and he added, "Rangers aren't just chosen for their fighting skills. Loyalty, courage, intelligence--"

"You don't have to boost my ego." There was a familiar smirk in Zhane's voice, and the spun metal sound came again. "There are parts of being a Ranger that I'm good at, and I know it."

There was another bang, and he sounded even more smug as he repeated, "My point."

The noise had paused again, and Zhane continued, "I'm a Ranger, and I know I earned it. But I didn't earn it because I wanted it, or because it was my destiny. I earned it because of you."

"Boo." The whisper in Ashley's ear made her jump, and she saw Kerone whirl. One of them must have made a sound, because the door to the kitchenette swung open the rest of the way and Andros peered out at them in confusion.

"Hi," Ashley said sheepishly. She heard TJ chuckle, but she couldn't take her eyes away from Andros'. As comprehension settled over his features, she was relieved that he looked more amused than angry.

"I heard there was a party," TJ drawled, ignoring the uncomfortable looks she and Kerone gave each other when Zhane joined his best friend in the doorway. "I assumed I was invited."

Ashley fidgeted a little, wondering how long he'd been watching them eavesdrop. "I thought you didn't get out of work till five!"

"I left early," he said with a shrug. "Tessa called me and said something was up. I was on my way to find her when I saw you two huddled over here."

"We were, um--" She couldn't help glancing at Kerone, and she was sure she looked exactly as guilty as she felt. "We were watching Andros and Zhane play foosball," she managed at last. It wasn't totally a lie.

TJ raised an eyebrow, but his reply wasn't quite what she'd expected. "Who taught you to play foosball?" he asked, directing the question at the Kerovan Rangers.

Andros gave him the Look, a patented Andros expression of exasperation tinged with disgust and resignation. "It's not like it's hard," he pointed out. "Two goals, four sticks. We didn't need an instruction manual to figure it out."

"Excuse me," Kerone interjected. "Could someone at least give me a situation synopsis before the dissertation on cultural simplicity instead of after? It's just a matter of personal priorities."

That stopped them, and Andros looked around, gathering them up with his eyes as he had a thousand times before. He was their leader, and all it took was a familiar, wordless gesture to know that truth remained. Whether they were across the hall or in different galaxies, some things didn't change. 

"We'd better go upstairs," he said simply. 

_fin_


	4. Rally T

_Disclaimer: It probably should have been "Rally E", but in keeping with "Ghostwriter" tradition I felt obliged to use a name instead of a place. SOTPR, though somehow politics and pregnancy have yet to make it onto the show. I wonder why that is._

**

Rally T  
by Starhawk

**

Aura stared down at the datapad with something akin to consternation on her face. The dappled sunlight playing across her skin hid her frown, but the impatient sigh that escaped her lips gave her away. "How did you do this?" she demanded, still perusing the translated equations.

Lounging on the blanket beside her, Carlos gazed out across the lake and just grinned. He knew a rhetorical question when he heard one, and it wouldn't take her long to realize that the only advantage he'd had was the fact that he hadn't been staring at the same numbers for three days on end. He'd managed to balance the fuel ratios she'd been struggling with at last, so he might as well enjoy her incredulity while it lasted.

"Billy will enjoy this," she muttered, tossing the pad down in disgust. "He advised me to let you do the conversions from the start."

"Only because they were mobile," Carlos pointed out. "If I could have been there for the test runs, you know he would have made me do that instead."

"And let you blow up another prototype?" Aura followed his gaze for a moment, watching the late afternoon sun sparkle off the water, but before long her eyes were drawn irresistibly back to the discarded datapad. "I doubt he's overly impressed with your record as a test pilot."

"Hey," he objected, shooting an amused look in her direction. "One, that wasn't my fault. And two--"

Carlos broke off as he caught sight of a girl approaching them, her gaze trained on Aura and an apprehensively hopeful look on her face. Swallowing his complaint that he wasn't much better at math than she seemed to think he was at flying, he nudged his girlfriend and nodded over her shoulder. "Heads up," he said, quietly enough that it wouldn't carry. "You have an adoring fan at ten o'clock."

"You and your clocks," she murmured, glaring down at the datapad. "The rest of the galaxies use bearings, you know."

"Um... excuse me--Ranger Aura?" The girl had hesitated, just within earshot and looking as though she might flee at any moment. Carlos raised an eyebrow at her politely formal address, though; someone had been paying attention during the Aquitian broadcasts last fall.

Aura looked up from the equations as though she hadn't realized anyone else was nearby. "Yes," she agreed, as though the girl had asked a question. Which, Carlos supposed, she had.

"Would you--uh... could I get your autograph?" the girl asked in a rush.

"What do you wish me to sign?" Aura countered patiently. She was much better with these kids than he would be, and when the girl nervously presented a notebook and pen, Aura signed and handed it back with a small smile.

"And you wonder why I like Aquitar so much," Carlos muttered, as the girl all but skipped away.

Aura gave him an arch look. "I always assumed it was because I'm there," she teased, her earlier sourness slipping away.

"That's the most important reason," he agreed immediately, touching her fingers with a grin. She turned her hand over and squeezed his, and he ran his thumb over the glittery nail polish Ashley had given her. "But it's nice to be someplace where Rangers are just ordinary people."

She smiled at that, a real smile that she only wore around people she was comfortable with. "Rangers are never just ordinary people, Carlos."

"Well, Aquitar treats us like we are," he said, smiling back. "And it's nice."

Her amused expression faded, replaced by a pensive look that set off alarm bells in his mind. "What are you thinking?" he wondered aloud, watching her face closely.

She squeezed his hand distractedly. "I am only trying to remember if we have ever been outside of Coralside together. I suspect not... you might feel differently if we had."

"Why do you say that?"

Her thoughtful eyes regarded him carefully, as though trying to judge his reaction before it came. "The Ranger Dome has been located in Coralside for generations," she told him. "The city populace has become accustomed to having Rangers in its midst. The rest of the planet is not necessarily so nonchalant in their dealings with us."

He considered that for a moment, and finally he shrugged. "I guess that's reassuring," he said with a smile. "Earth isn't quite as backward as it sometimes feels, huh?"

Aura's expression stayed perfectly neutral, but her eyes danced. "I did not say that," she pointed out.

"League brat," he teased.

A smile played across her lips. "Seasider."

"So is that why Tideus and Corcus stay in Coralside?" Carlos asked, picking up the conversation as though it hadn't been interrupted. "Because people are used to them?"

She hesitated a moment before nodding. "Many former Rangers live in the city for precisely that reason. Delphine and Cestro stay because their families are there, of course, and I am sure their teammates stay partly to be close to them. But it is no secret that Aurico had a difficult time resettling, even with his wife's connections, and I think the others are not anxious to try it themselves."

There was a brief silence, and when it began to stretch out he let his gaze wander back toward the lake. The ripples on its deep blue surface were lined with sun-gold and cloud-silver as fairweather puffs drifted across the sky above. The beach itself was peppered with people, lounging as they were or watching lazily over children playing in the shallow water.

He could remember a time when he wouldn't have dared to bring her here. To the lake, yes, but not to this beach. Not to this public place, where someone as alien as her would be anything but inconspicuous and anyone might see. Sometimes he wondered whether he had become less responsible or more so over the last two years.

"When I leave active Ranger duty, I suppose I will settle there too," Aura mused aloud.

He blinked, setting his mind to focus on the conversation again. "Coralside?" he asked reflexively, just to confirm that they were still talking about what he thought they were talking about. Then the rest of her sentence caught up with him. "Wait, when you leave active Ranger duty?"

She gave him an amused look. "Where were you?"

Sheepishly, he admitted, "Just thinking about how much things have changed. You're not planning to quit the team, are you?"

He was half-kidding, but he was still relieved when her lips curved upward at the idea. "No, of course not.

"I have only been a Ranger for two years," she added, surprising him with the same number he had just been contemplating. "The average tour of duty is four, and I have no intention of giving up the Power just yet."

"Four years?" he repeated, not sure whether the figure itself or the fact that it existed surprised him more. 

He knew that Adam, the Ranger who had chosen Carlos to inherit his Power, had kept his morpher for almost that long before passing it on. He knew too that Andros had had his morpher all his life. But those were the only two examples he had, other than his own, and there didn't seem to be a lot of middle ground... he'd never considered an "average" length of time.

"For Aquitian Rangers, that is," she said, glancing sideways at him. "Billy says that most Earth Rangers do not hold the Power that long."

"No," Carlos agreed slowly. "I guess they wouldn't... Justin says he was the only Ranger not in high school when he was recruited, and we're the first to keep the Power after graduating." He thought about it for a moment, wondering why it had never occurred to him before. "I guess that makes us the oldest Rangers."

Aura was smiling again. "Not so old, on Aquitar," she told him. "Even in Aquitian years, our entire team is older than anyone on yours."

"Except your leader," he retorted, rolling his eyes at her deliberate omission.

"No," she murmured, an odd look floating across her face. "I suppose that's true."

He raised an eyebrow. "You suppose? Cestria told me that Cetaci's eighteen."

"Nineteen, now," Aura corrected absently. "She would have graduated next year, had she stayed in school."

Seeming to come back to herself, she focused on him again and added, "Nonetheless, it takes Aquitar longer to circle its sun than it does Earth. Even at nineteen, she is several of your years older than you."

"And you still only hold the Power for four years?" Carlos had once done the Aquitian-Earth conversion for Aura's age, and he found it was better for his peace of mind if he didn't think about it too much. "The first Turbo team only gave up their morphers because they had to get real jobs. If they could have been Rangers longer, I think they would have."

"Do you?" She studied him. "It is true that our worlds approach Rangering differently, but whether one becomes a Ranger before or after one finishes schooling, all teams have in common the fact that they are made up of young people."

"You just finished telling me how old everyone on your team is," Carlos reminded her, his tone teasing.

Her lips quirked. "Relatively speaking," she insisted, but there was a slightly petulant note in her voice that told him he'd made his point. "Being a Ranger requires three characteristics that youth has in abundance: physical conditioning, invincibility, and a willingness to be consumed by something else. None of those things last forever, least of all the last. Rangers that do not pass on the Power burn out. There are no exceptions."

"Well, damn," Carlos said, rolling over onto his back to stare up at the sky. "Here I thought being a Ranger required five close friends, an obsession with a single color, and amazing good looks. You've completely destroyed my belief system. I hope you're satisfied."

Beside him, she put her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands and offered, "If it's any comfort, I have often wished a deadpan sense of humor had made the list."

He put his hands behind his head and grinned up at her. "Then you're in luck, because that's one thing that just gets better with age."

She smiled back at him, but her question surprised him. "What will you do when you relinquish the Power?"

He shrugged as best he could in his current position. "I'm doing it," he pointed out. "Like you said, we do Rangering differently here. No threat, no duties, so unless some new villain comes along to threaten Earth, we'll just keep on with our lives."

Her expression grew thoughtful, and he turned the question back on her before she could say anything. "What about you? What will you do in two years, or whenever you decide to leave?"

At that, she frowned. "You make it sound like abandonment," she murmured, though her tone wasn't particularly accusatory. "There comes a time when a Ranger is more of a liability than an asset, you know."

"Not really," he said frankly, keeping his gaze fixed on hers. "I don't know much about the other Earth Rangers, but Andros has been the Red Ranger all his life. He's not a liability to anyone."

"Except himself," Aura said softly. "He grew into the Power while his world was at war and there was nothing more heroic than immersing oneself in battle. Now that is changing, and Andros has driven away everyone close to him to keep doing what he does."

Carlos opened his mouth to protest, but then he remembered Ashley's bleak expression when asked why she had left KO-35. _"It was for the best,"_ she had said, only three months after she had sworn her undying love for the Ranger that had drawn her there.

"Being a Ranger takes everything you are." Aura was watching his face, and he tried hastily to smooth his expression over. "There is little room left over for family, or friends... or anything else, for that matter. Few Rangers have meaningful relationships outside of their team."

"What about neighboring teams?" He had to try and lighten the mood a little; she was so solemn. He couldn't help thinking that maybe the teams on Earth, while having their own problems with secrecy, might have been spared some of the more difficult aspects of Rangering on other planets.

She smiled when he tapped her knee, tickling her bare skin with his fingers. "Some manage to make inter-team relationships work," she allowed. "But you cannot deny that you have had difficulty making time for anything other than the Astro Rangers at times."

He chuckled ruefully. "There were weeks when I lived and breathed that uniform," he admitted. "And it's never stopped being my first priority."

"On some planets," Aura said quietly, "Rangers live and breathe their duty for as long as they wear a morpher. There comes a time in every person's life when that kind of commitment is no longer possible, when one can simply no longer give all that they have to others. Eventually, one has to get something back, something other than the rush of Power and the adrenaline of battle."

He frowned at her, concerned. "Are you..." He didn't know how to finish the sentence.

She smiled at him, a sincere smile that lit her eyes and warmed his heart. "I have you," she said simply. "And," she added, her smile taking on a fiercer cast, "I still thrive on it. The action, the responsibility and the risk--"

"The toys," he interjected, giving the datapad in front of her a significant glance.

She came that close to laughing as she followed his gaze. "The toys," she agreed. "As you well know, I put as much time off-duty time into Rangering as not. And as long as it means so much to me, I will continue to be an asset to the team."

He felt compelled to point out, "You can't really think you'll ever be a liability to your friends, no matter how much things change."

Her expression sobered a little. "There is a difference between the team and my friends, Carlos. The team is something that we do. Friends... that's something that we are."

He smiled. "Very poetic."

"But true," she countered. "With the exception of Cetaci and Delphinius, who are as likely to kill each other as marry, we will never stop being friends. But for each of us there will come a day when we realize someone else could give more to the team, and one by one, we will step aside."

He considered that, wondering what a similar philosophy would mean for his own team. "It's funny," he murmured, half to himself. "Andros doesn't seem to look at it that way."

Aura was silent, and for a moment he thought she wouldn't answer. At last, though, she asked, "And if Kerova presses the issue? What then?"

Now he found that he was the one without an answer.

***

There was no answer at Carlos' door, so she left him a message with a post-it and a pencil. Neither he nor his roommates had bothered to buy a message board yet, but she hoped the bright yellow would catch his eye. It told him to meet them in Tessa's room when he got back, and she added the numbers "227" in case he had forgotten. 

As she turned away, Ashley saw a flash of red out of the corner of her eye. She spun, but there was no one there. With a sigh, she reminded herself that Andros was far too busy trying to explain Kerovan politics to the others to bother catching her alone right now. She should just go back down there and listen, and pretend she cared whether they wanted her morpher back or not.

He hadn't even called her back. She wrinkled her nose as she headed for the stairwell. Granted, she hadn't made her message sound particularly urgent, but there was a time when he would have come just because she had said "hi", not because his planet's government had tried to counter a decision he had made about the Rangers. She tried not to be upset about that.

He was here out of concern for them, after all. Even if it wasn't for her specifically, at least he was worrying about something other than KO-35. It wasn't like he had come just because his authority had been threatened--

She rounded the corner and came up short, her eyes widening in surprise. What had she just been thinking about him trying to get her alone?

"Andros," she managed. Her eyes traveled down his frame before she could stop herself, and she felt a frown trying to establish itself on her face. "Why are you..."

She trailed off uncertainly. He was wearing his Astro flightsuit here in the middle of the dorm, and he looked--off, somehow. It could be the fact that his hair was free of its ponytail for the first time in days, or that Zhane's phoenix necklace hung on the chain that usually held Kerone's locket. Or it could be the lack of recognition in his expression... she could have been anyone, anyone at all, and he would have given her the same look of bored indifference.

She took a step back in confusion, and he was gone. Just like that--no warning, no movement, no nothing--just gone in the time it took to blink, and she was left staring in shock at the empty stairwell.

By the time she reached Tessa's room, she was sure she'd looked over her shoulder a dozen times. She knocked tentatively, giving the hallway one last glance as Tessa called, "Come in!"

Ashley stuck her head into the room and looked them over carefully, locating Andros first--dressed in a short-sleeve Kerovan tunic and stonewashed California jeans, he paused at her intense scrutiny and gave her a questioning look. He stood by the windows, Zhane at his left shoulder with his white hair glowing in the slanted sunlight and the red-banded communicator still lurking on his wrist.

Kerone sat on Karen's bed, alone without being apart. The phoenix necklace hung over her t-shirt as it had for months, glinting in the suddenly silent room. Across from her, TJ and Tessa were side by side on the other bed, and Ashley was aware of everyone's eyes on her.

"What's wrong?" TJ asked, as she finally slid into the room and closed the door behind her. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

She opened her mouth to tell them what she had seen, but something stopped her. What could she say? That she was having hallucinations about the boyfriend she'd gone to live with at the beginning of the summer and then moved out on three months later? That she had been thinking about him and he appeared as though summoned in front of her? That would go over well.

"Nothing," she lied, trying to smile reassuringly. "I just... I wasn't sure I remembered Tessa's room number right, that's all."

"My name's on the door," Tessa pointed out, looking as confused as TJ.

"Yeah, well..." She shifted uncomfortably, not sure what other excuse to use.

To her infinite relief, Zhane came to her rescue. "So Carlos wasn't there, huh?"

She shot him a grateful look. "No, but I left a note on his door. When he gets back he'll know where to find us."

"Andros was just telling us that the Council doesn't have the final say in Ranger matters," TJ added, though the penetrating look he gave her said he might not drop it that easily. She sat down on the edge of the bed next to Kerone, trying to avoid his gaze. "Apparently, they can't force the team to split up if we don't want to."

"There's such a thing as Ranger law," Zhane put in.

Andros shot him an odd look, but all he said was, "I'd like to think we won't have to resort to that."

"What does that mean?" TJ wanted to know. "Ranger law?"

"It means that if the Power had wanted the Council to make decisions about the Rangers, it would have given them the morphers in the first place." Zhane leaned insolently back against one of the girls' bureaus, a smirk on his face. "They can't tell us what to do."

Andros sighed. "Zhane..."

"What?" Zhane didn't bother to straighten up. "Isn't that what you were saying this morning? That Rangers are above Council law?"

Ashley frowned, looking over at Kerone. Andros' sister caught her eye, and if the puzzled look she saw reflected back at her was any indication, Kerone had caught an undercurrent of hostility in that question too. Since when had Zhane been anything but open about his feelings?

"I didn't say that." Andros' gaze was locked with Zhane's now, and the rest of them might as well have ceased to exist. "I said that they earned those morphers, and I won't let the Council think otherwise."

"Guys?" TJ interrupted. "Hello? 'They' happen to be right here."

"I'll go." Ashley tried not to wince as every eye in the room turned toward her again. "That's what this is about, right? It's not whether we deserve to have the astromorphers or not, it's whether the morphers are doing any good when we're here on Earth.

"If they want a team that lives in the Kerova system, then I'll go. Live there again, I mean," she said, when comprehension seemed to evade everyone except Kerone. The sorceress looked as though she had expected nothing less. "If I'd thought someone wanted me there, I wouldn't have left in the first place."

The words escaped before she could think about how they would sound, and that statement made Kerone's eyes widen where the others had not. But that was nothing compared to the look of hurt on Andros' face. He stared at her as though she had just announced he was the lowest scum in the universe.

Tessa cleared her throat, speaking for the first time since Ashley had returned. "I'm not saying you shouldn't go, Ash, but... that's not really going to solve the problem, is it? You can't *all* go." She looked to TJ for support.

He shook his head firmly. "I understand what the Council is saying, Andros; I really do. But I'm not moving--and frankly, I don't see why I should have to give up my morpher. What if Divatox comes back? What if some new villain decides to attack Earth? We don't have a team, no, but at least there are some people here now who stand a chance of fighting back."

Andros swallowed. "That's... I guess, that's--" He couldn't seem to finish the sentence, and it occurred to Ashley distantly that he hadn't been so speechless even when she'd announced she was returning to Earth.

"The Alliance," Zhane said, covering for his friend as he always had. "You haven't heard anything from them, have you?"

TJ and Tessa exchanged glances. "Us?" TJ asked, when no one else said anything.

"You, Ashley, anyone." Zhane was frowning. "I didn't think of it until you said that just now. The Alliance isn't going to like this at all. I hope the Council hasn't made any kind of official statement."

"They are Kerovan morphers," Kerone pointed out, with her usual lack of concern for what anyone would think.

TJ frowned. "Earth Rangers used Eltaran morphers for three years. I don't see that this is any different. The Power chooses people who need it, regardless of where they're from."

Tessa looked at him in surprise, and he shrugged sheepishly. "I did some studying."

"I guess," she murmured, but she looked pleased.

"Is that someone in the hall?" Kerone was frowning at the door.

There were voices outside the door, but there was nothing unusual about that--until the familiar accents made Ashley sit up and call, "Come in, Carlos!"

Tessa gave her an amused look, and she ducked her head in apology. "Sorry," she offered ruefully, but Tessa just grinned.

Carlos leaned around the doorframe and inquired, "Dinner?"

Only then did Ashley remember how hungry she was, and she saw Tessa's eyes light up at the word. "Food!" the blonde-haired girl exclaimed, nudging TJ with her elbow. "Remember what that is, TJ?"

"It's not that late," he complained good-naturedly, glancing at his watch. "Well, all right--it's almost that late. Sorry about that."

"We were discussing the Council's request," Kerone offered. Carlos held the door for Aura when he realized no one was jumping to their feet, and as he entered behind her he gave Kerone a wry look.

"Funny," he said, pulling the door shut. "So were we. Come up with anything interesting?"

"Just that the Alliance is going to be ticked," Ashley muttered, irritated at the reminder of Carlos' and Aura's perfect relationship. Something occurred to her, and she made herself catch Andros' eye again. "I suppose KO-35's going to want the zords Zordon gave us, too."

He just stared at her, saying nothing. Beside him, Zhane shrugged. "That's a good question. The Mega Vs are sort of linked to the astromorphers now, aren't they?"

"Ashley." Andros was clearly paying no attention to the conversation. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Zhane glanced at him uncertainly, and Ashley saw Carlos and Aura exchange puzzled looks. "Sure," she said with a shrug. She stayed where she was, watching him.

He swallowed. "Outside," he said, more quietly.

She felt Zhane's blue eyes on her, but where his gaze had been sympathetic before, now the intent behind it was just as readable. His expression said, _Have a little compassion,_ clear as day. _Don't do this to him._

Suppressing a sigh, she got to her feet. Carlos gave her a concerned look even as he stepped out of her way, but she didn't say a word until she was out in the hallway and Andros had closed the door behind them. For a moment, he too was silent, and her impatience bubbled over.

"What?" she demanded, as quietly as she could. She didn't care if people in the hallway heard her, but their voices would carry through the door as easily as Carlos' and Aura's had. "What did I do now? If this is another lecture on diplomacy, don't worry about it, because I can't embarrass you anymore."

She knew that wasn't why he wanted to talk to her, but this was just too reminiscent of so many other mid-situation meetings when he'd felt the need to impart some piece of information or just a plea for tact--or silence. She knew she wasn't the best diplomat in the world, but he didn't have to rub her nose in it all the time.

His response was quite possibly the last thing she had prepared herself for. "God," he whispered, leaning back against the wall. "I'm so sorry, Ash."

He'd never sworn to a god before, not that she could remember anyway, and she wondered where he could have picked that up. She watched him, feeling that she should say something but unable to deny that part of her thought he deserved this small anguish. It was a horrible thing to think, she scolded herself, but that didn't banish the thought.

"Look," he said, straightening up and reaching out to touch her shoulder. He withdrew his hand at the last second, as though he wasn't sure she'd let him do it, and the look of sadness that crossed his face made her wonder what he was thinking. 

"I know I've screwed up," he said softly. "I'm sorry you thought I didn't want you there, because nothing could be farther than the truth. I'm sorry I let the whole Ranger thing get so big that I thought there was nothing I could do to make you stay, because there must have been something. Maybe it was..." He closed his eyes and started again. "Maybe it was as small a thing as letting you know that having you with me was the best thing about KO-35."

He was staring at her again, and she hadn't even noticed when he opened his eyes. "My home is nothing to me without you, Ash, and since you've been gone--nothing's right anymore. Kerone won't talk to me, Zhane's mad at me, and all I can think about is getting you back. I don't know what to do."

The forlorn look on his face was her undoing, and she wrapped her arms around him without another thought. "It's okay," she murmured, hugging him hard. "It's going to be all right."

She thought she felt him sigh, but there was nothing cynical in his voice when he whispered plaintively, "Promise?"

She closed her eyes, knowing that to keep his arms around her she would promise him anything. "I promise," she said, just as quietly.

Bizarrely, there was a knock from the other side of the door, and she heard Carlos' voice coming from inside Tessa's room. "Hey, you guys still out there? No offense, but some of us are really hungry."

Ashley didn't move, afraid anything she said would break the spell. Twirling the ends of Andros' ponytail around her fingers, she sighed when she felt him pull away. But he just put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her gently, almost hesitantly. *I love you.*

She wasn't sure which of them said it first, but suddenly it didn't seem enough to keep it inside their heads. "I love you," she repeated aloud, kissing his lower lip gently. "I'll always love you."

"I love you too," he murmured, kissing her again.

"Guys?" This time Carlos pushed the door open, and she knew without looking that he was rolling his eyes at them. "If you don't want to eat you could just say so, you know."

"The dining halls won't stay open forever," TJ was saying. "How long do we have, again?"

"I'm not sure the dining hall can take this conversation," Tessa answered, over the rustle of her windbreaker. "Maybe we should just order pizza or something."

"We can't do this without Cassie." Zhane sounded unusually firm. "We should see if we can get through to Elisia."

"The Megaship," Andros said, keeping his arm tightly around Ashley's waist as he braced his other arm on the doorframe. "Let's go up to the Megaship, eat, call Cassie, and figure out what to do from there."

***

The comm on his dashboard beeped, and Saryn regarded the blinking light quizzically. There were very few callers who would be automatically routed from his home comm to his jetcycle, and no one but the other Rangers could tap into the jetcycle network directly. And the other Rangers were only moments gone, if that.

He reached out to acknowledge the signal, but the light went dark before his fingers could touch it. Cassie must have picked up--Cassie must be home, he realized, looking up. He scanned the exterior archway automatically, hoping to catch a glimpse of her through the corner windows. He couldn't, of course, not if she was by the comm, but the gesture was instinctive.

Mirine's jetcycle was already parked inside and abandoned by the time his joined it, but he hadn't expected her to wait. He had told her that he and Cassie wouldn't be joining the others for the evening meal, and he knew that she had more to take care of this evening than they had yet accomplished. The burden of team leadership still lay with her, despite his return, and he knew it might be that way indefinitely.

When he was honest with himself, he didn't know whether to consider the situation trial or gift.

He stepped out onto the promenade again, absently keying the garage closed behind him. He stared out toward the horizon, soaking in the winter shadows of the early sunset. Though the primary sun was setting on the other side of the compound, reflected color was beginning to tinge the eastern skies as it dropped ever nearer to the planet's surface.

He took in the evening's serenity for as long as he could before curiosity drove him inside to see whom Cassie was talking to. She looked up and waved a greeting as he entered, hanging his jetcycle gear by the door and smiling over at her. She was still dressed in her fair clothes, and he couldn't help thinking that the Elisian style suited her.

"Here's Saryn," she was telling the comm screen. The transparent display let him see her teammate's face from where he stood, but the projector was on her side and he would be invisible to Ashley until he moved around to join her.

"How did it go?" she asked, as he came around the end of the counter to do just that. "Is the Defense going to get involved?"

Without a word, Saryn laid a hand on her shoulder and drew her close, burying his face in her hair. He didn't care if Ashley saw, and he didn't care if half the compound felt him let his shields down. The day had been longer than he liked, mentally trying if not physically difficult, and he would not be denied this moment of peace.

"Hey," Cassie murmured softly, not protesting the onslaught of emotion. She wrapped an arm around him and squeezed, whispering for his ears only, "Want me to call them back?"

He took a deep breath, getting himself under control again. "No," he breathed, pulling away. Giving her a grateful smile, he added in a more normal voice, "You look nice. I trust you were well-received at the fair today?"

"Don't change the subject," she chided, but she gave him a beatific smile for asking. In truth, he couldn't for the life of him remember what she had wanted to know when he walked in.

"Will the Defense get involved if KO-35 tries to reissue the astromorphers?" Cassie prompted gently, the concern on her face telling him that if he didn't do better than that she was going to shut the comm down no matter what he said.

"Not--as such," he said, struggling to turn his attention toward the face on the screen. Ashley couldn't be the only one watching this transmission. "They will not involve themselves in a system's internal politics."

"I'm sensing a 'but' in there somewhere," Ashley remarked.

"The Alliance," Andros' voice said from somewhere offscreen.

"The Alliance," Saryn agreed tiredly. "If the Alliance takes up for Earth, the Defense will have no choice but to support Kerova. Mirine will find herself in a most awkward position," he added, glancing at Cassie.

She frowned, looking from him to Ashley and back again. "I don't understand. Why would the Alliance have a problem with... oh."

Comprehension flashed across Cassie's face even as Ashley offered, "If KO-35 takes the morphers back, Earth won't have any Rangers."

"And after all the trouble we went to get Alliance recognition," Carlos added, leaning into the frame, "Aura thinks they probably aren't going to ditch us now."

"They will not," Saryn confirmed. "Earth's Alliance membership will ensure its League status whether there is a Ranger team present or not, but the Inner Alliance will not let allow a member world to lose its first line of defense."

"Its only line of defense," Cassie corrected, looking troubled. "Earth doesn't have anything that can go up again villains from space. Nothing but the Rangers, anyway."

"Hey," Zhane's voice objected. "It's not like the Kerova system is the bad guy here. KO-35 is a lot more likely to be attacked than Earth is."

"It is not a matter of good and bad," Saryn pointed out, trying not to wince in anticipation of the outburst Zhane's comment might provoke. He couldn't take any more of that today. "Both sides have a valid argument, but it comes down to the fact that one team cannot defend three worlds."

"What does Mirine have to do with it?" Cassie was doing her best to divert the others' attention too, for which he was grateful, even if the answer to her question should have been obvious.

He reached out and stroked her hair gently. "You have one of the morphers Kerova wishes to recall," he reminded her. "Her loyalties will be questioned no matter what position Elisia takes." 

If he hadn't been staring directly at her, he might not have seen her shimmer. He wasn't even sure that was the right word, but for a brief moment that seemed to stretch into one unnaturally long, she became less substantial before his eyes. He had time to think that she might vanish altogether, he had time to realize that her expression of shock wasn't due to his words, and he had time for his heart to constrict painfully at the possibilities--but he didn't have time to act.

An instant and an eternity later, she was drooping under his frantic gaze and as solid as he could have wished when he gripped her arms to hold her up. "Saryn," she gasped, her head twisting as if to rid her mind of some vision as one hand went to her stomach. She squeezed her eyes shut in a grimace of pain, and he tried not to flinch at the disconcerting echo that seemed to emanate from her.

"Cassie?" Ashley's horrified gaze made it clear that whatever had just happened had been obvious to her too. "What happened? Are you all right?"

"I'm--okay," Cassie said breathlessly, leaning heavily on him as he helped her into a chair. But her gaze didn't leave his, and her words only worried him more. "It was dark," she murmured, staring at him. "Everything... it was all burned..."

Then she wrapped her other arm around her stomach and leaned forward, as though she could hurry the fading pain on its way. "That hurt," she whispered, her only audible concession to the stabbing sensation he had felt in his own gut. 

"Saryn?" Ashley was trying to ask something, but he paid no attention. He pulled Cassie's arms away from her stomach and laid his hands there instead. Closing his eyes, he directed the healing ability of his Power into her body, willing the damage away.

His eyes opened in surprise when he felt the echo again--the same thing that had intensified her pain now doubled the feeling of comfort radiating from her. He pulled away carefully, and she smiled warmly down at him. "Thanks," she murmured, and her expression left no doubt that she meant it.

"I'm okay," she said, in a louder voice as she looked up over his shoulder. Only then did he realize he was kneeling on the floor in front of her. "I'm fine, really. I just--things got all fuzzy there for a second."

"*You* got all fuzzy there for a second," Ashley retorted, studying her as closely as the comm link would allow. "What happened?"

"I--I don't know," Cassie admitted, and Saryn fought the almost overwhelming urge to rest his head on her knees and close his eyes again. 

*No more,* he whispered, to a power that might or might not be listening. *Please just let us be. Let her sing, for as long as it brings her pleasure, and let me listen, for the rest of our days. Is that so much to ask?*

He felt Cassie's concern as she had no doubt felt his dismay, and a moment later her fingers were in his hair, brushing it away from his face in a casual gesture that would likely mean little to anyone watching. But she did it again, and again, letting the darkly highlighted strands slide through her fingers until he had to pull away or risk letting her friends see far more than they should.

He tried to glare at her, but she just smiled that innocent smile and laughed at him from behind dancing brown eyes. "I saw something," she told the screen, but she didn't look away from him. "The whole room changed for a second, and there was this pain in my stomach, and then... Saryn was holding me, and you were staring at me like I'd turned invisible or something."

"You almost did," Ashley informed her. "You sort of faded, just for a second."

Cassie frowned, glancing over at the screen before looking back at him. He nodded in agreement, but neither of them could find any words.

"What did you see?" Zhane's voice wanted to know. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Saryn saw Ashley look over her shoulder. She was replaced by Zhane a moment later, and the Silver Ranger repeated his question. "What did you see, Cassie?"

"I saw a burned room," she said softly, still holding Saryn's gaze. "Saryn was gone... there wasn't anyone else in the room."

He was distantly aware of Zhane turning to talk to someone else, but all he could hear was Cassie in his mind. *It's going to be okay,* she promised him. *Don't look like that.*

"Andros saw something strange this morning," Zhane said at last, facing the screen again. "We were at Aquitar for the races and he thought he saw Ashley. The Aquitian Rangers couldn't find anything that could have caused it."

"I--I saw something too," Ashley offered, from somewhere offscreen. "Andros, in the hallway, when he was really in Tessa's room. He looked different, too."

"When?" Zhane demanded. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"This afternoon," she answered. "And why didn't you?"

"Has anyone else... seen something inexplicable?" Saryn asked, so quietly he wasn't sure the comm would pick it up.

Cassie opened her mouth to repeat his question when Zhane did it for him. This time, the voices offscreen were too far away to be intelligible, and they had to wait for Zhane's attention to return. Meanwhile, Saryn let his hand drop possessively to Cassie's shoulder and entertained the idea of simply switching the comm off. Why did the Astro Rangers seem to attract trouble so?

"Carlos and TJ, too," Zhane said at last, turning back to the comm. His statement did not surprise Saryn in the slightest. "They were alone when it happened, but I was looking at Andros and he sure didn't fade the way Cassie did."

That was it. That was all he could take. Saryn turned and walked away.

He settled in the corner by the windows, as far as he could get from the comm and still keep an eye on Cassie. He doubted he would be able to let her out of his sight at all after this, and that would just lead to the old familiar drama. She would complain that he was overprotective, and he would growl about losing her, then she would roll her eyes and he would frown... it was a road they had been down too many times before.

He had rather grown to like their new routine, where they endured mock-battles over Jetson and taunted each other out of bed in the morning. Where the only thing he had to worry about was what public place she would chose to ambush him in next time, and all that made her complain was how long his hair was getting... Why this new threat, and why now? Hadn't they paid their price for happiness?

That was the exhaustion talking, a distant part of his mind noted. He was cross and sullen because he had been bombarded with intensity and secret agendas all day long, and all he had wanted on returning home was to share the evening meal with his wife. Instead, he had found her teammates and their ridiculously involved puzzles coming in to complicate things again.

"Sulking?" Cassie suggested softly, coming toward him with a smile on her face. He hadn't even seen her get up, but the comm was off and there was a hint of sympathy in her tone. "Rough day, huh?"

He held his silence, but his fingers clenched together and she didn't miss the gesture. Her knowing look was too much, and he blurted out, "I try to block it out! I try, but it's so loud and diplomats never know how foolish they sound! All I want--"

He drew in a breath as she lowered herself into the chair beside him, more in his lap than not as she put an arm over his shoulders and rested her head against his chest. "All I want is for it to be quiet, sometimes," he finished, more gently.

She didn't say anything for a moment, but at last she remarked, "There's more than one reason empaths aren't allowed in politics, I guess."

He sighed, the frustration draining out of him slowly. "Linnse and Tobin would protect me if they could," he murmured. "But they don't know what it's like. And Mirine has other things to worry about. I miss--"

He broke off abruptly, but she caught the name he didn't say. "Lyris?" she said softly.

He sighed again. "I suppose it is selfish to miss him for the way he used to shield me," he murmured. "He understood, the way you do. But... I begin to think that I may not be able to do this without him."

She stilled, frozen in place, and he slid his other arm around her. "Not *this*," he said, hugging her as tightly as he could. "Just--the politicking."

"Maybe the Frontier Defense could find someone else," she murmured, echoing his own thoughts. "Do you think?"

He nodded slowly, rubbing her arm with his free hand and reveling in the feeling of having her so close. At the end of the day, she was more than his love--she was his solace. The emotions that raged around him quieted in her presence... or maybe they were just overwhelmed, by her, by her flamboyance and caring and everything that made her who she was.

"I do think so," he whispered. "More and more often, of late."

He felt her smile, and just like that the image of her fading assaulted his memory again. He frowned down at her dark head. "Don't ever leave me, Cassie," he said suddenly. It was half command, half plea.

She didn't so much as twitch, but he knew she understood what he meant. "You know I won't," she replied quietly.

***

Tessa hadn't been on the Megaship in some time, but it hadn't changed much from what she remembered. In fact, it hadn't changed at all, except for the fact that having DECA's presence manifest itself physically--or at least photonically--in the form of a hologram was something she had never quite gotten used to.

"Eight o'clock class tomorrow?" TJ whispered in her ear, and she nodded wordlessly.

She didn't want to leave, but the conversation was dying down. There were only so many times that one could review the lack of knowledge they currently had, and even fewer during which they felt comfortable bringing up the Alliance/Defense conflict. She hadn't completely grasped what the problem was there, but Tessa gathered that Andros' and Zhane's world was part of one organization while Earth belonged to another. And apparently the Astro Rangers couldn't be on both sides.

"Hey, guys," TJ said, pitching his voice low to avoid waking Aura. The Aquitian had fallen asleep an indeterminate amount of time ago, and Carlos had mentioned it being mid-morning on Aquitar by now. "We're glad to stay and help clean up, but we'd better get moving pretty soon or the alarm clock is going to be our worst enemy tomorrow morning."

"The alarm clock is always my worst enemy," Carlos countered, but he spoke too softly for the words to carry much conviction.

"We'll take care of the dishes," Ashley volunteered. "I don't have to get up till late tomorrow anyway."

"Hey, speak for yourself!" Zhane looked indignant. "I'm not offering to do anyone's dishes."

"What, the only Silver Ranger in the history of the Kerova system can't do a few dishes for his teammates?" Andros' tone was mild, but his words were all it took to make Zhane throw up his hands in disgust.

"All right, all right! We'll do the dishes," he grumbled, sparing an unconvincing glare for TJ and Carlos. "Go put your girls to bed, or whatever you do at night."

Tessa tried not to giggle, she really did, but she couldn't help it. Was there anything Zhane wouldn't do if his best friend asked it of him? He didn't even do a particularly good job of feigning reluctance. And really... "'Whatever you do at night'?" she whispered to TJ.

He leaned over and kissed her temple. "I think we'll let that one lie," he murmured, before pulling away and offering her a hand up. "Come on, Physics Girl. Let's get out of here before they change their mind."

"Yeah, and 'thanks' to you too," Zhane muttered.

"Good night, everyone," TJ said, ignoring him. "Thanks for cleaning up, guys."

"Keep us posted," Tessa added, stifling a yawn. She might not have all the details down yet, but she had come to realize that being involved with the Rangers meant one never had all the details until after the fact. If then, she thought wryly.

Andros gave them a half-salute as TJ pulled her close to teleport. "Will do," he assured her.

_fin_


	5. In The News

__

Disclaimer: So maybe it's true that you can only wear the same color for so many years, but then how to explain blue jeans? SOTPR, while I own my pretty green eyes and a silver watch. It doesn't have any numbers on it, but then, I don't believe in time.

****

In The News  
by Starhawk

They didn't even wait until he left to start arguing, and that bothered Carlos. It wasn't that he had never seen Zhane and Andros fight; it was just that he had never seen them so serious about it. They teased each other mercilessly and they bickered over trivialities like there was no tomorrow, but he had rarely seen them on opposite sides of an actual debate.

"It is good for them," Aura murmured, her head resting on his shoulder as they paused in the hallway outside her room. Her voice had the dreamy quality of someone who wasn't more than half-awake at best, but she was clearly aware enough to be reading his mind.

He made a noncommittal sound as he punched her code into the keypad beside her door. Aura's perception of the situation was arguably skewed by her teammates' odd relationship. She also hadn't known the Kerovans as long as he had; she couldn't realize that the unified front they presented to the universe wasn't a front at all, but a real reflection of their feelings.

Carlos had long suspected Zhane of supernatural qualities when it came to dealing with Andros, for no one seemed to reach the Red Ranger the way his best friend did. He had patience that exceeded Ashley's and an easy persuasiveness that had worked in the team's favor more than once. It was an unspoken truth among the Astro Rangers that if you needed Andros out of the way you went to Ashley. If you needed him to change his mind, you went to Zhane.

Unfortunately, that truth now seemed months out of date. Things were changing, but Carlos wasn't sure how or why. Was Andros pushing them away on purpose, as Aura seemed to think? Or was he just too overwhelmed by responsibility to see what was happening?

"Neither knows where the other stands anymore," Aura insisted. His support was all that kept her from collapsing on the bed as he sat down beside her, and the way she mumbled was charming if not particularly convincing. "Without confrontation, they will only drift farther apart."

Carlos suspected it was too late to prevent that, but one look at her convinced him that now was the not the time for rational discussion. "No offense," he told her gently, "but you'll be more believable when you can keep your eyes open."

Her fingers clenched on his shirt, forcing him to lean forward as she slipped out of his arms and fell back against her pillows. "You would be more believable," she said, very clearly, "if you would stay here with me where you belong."

His breath caught in his throat. Reaching up to disentangle her fingers, he was unprepared for the sensuous slide of her hands on his as she abandoned her grip on his shirt. "Aura--" His voice rasped and he stopped abruptly, embarrassed.

Clearing his throat, he tried again. "Aura, I have to go." He would have dearly loved to kiss her senseless, but she would be on call in three hours and he needed to sleep before classes started. "I'll see you tomorrow, all right?"

"Tomorrow," she mumbled, letting him go with a sigh that was almost his undoing. He trailed his fingers down her arm before he turned to leave, wondering if the incident would rate a mention in the morning. Once before she had asked him to stay the night in her bed, and then as now he had managed to avoid answering the question directly.

He wasn't sure what made him look up when he stepped out into the hallway. The route was so familiar that he could have found his way to the control room with his eyes closed, but maybe that was what tipped him off. He wasn't consciously paying attention to his surroundings, but something tickled the back of his mind nonetheless. 

He glanced around, trying to pin the fleeting sensation down. There was no one else in the hallway, but that wasn't unusual. Cool muted light washed the walls with a faint violet glow, and the hum of the generators provided a faint but noticeable background for the peaceful setting. His gaze flitted across the lettering over Billy's door, absently translating the alien alphabet as he tried to find anything out of the ordinary.

His mind caught up with his eyes and he froze. He turned, a chill icing its way down his spine as he stared at the letters again. They didn't spell out "Billy," or any variation thereof. The design over the Blue Ranger's door was a completely unfamiliar combination of corners and curves.

Almost unwillingly, his gaze slid sideways down the hall. "Delphinius" was a hard one, but it didn't take more than a glance to know that the brief inscription over the Black Ranger's door couldn't be his. Cetaci's door was at such an angle that he couldn't even see the lettering by her room, let alone read it, but he had no desire to investigate.

Carlos took a step back, expecting an unfamiliar face to come bursting through one of those doors at any moment. The sight of Cassie fading before his eyes sprang into sharp relief in his mind, and he took another step backward. Aura's door, still unlocked, slid open behind him, and he backed through it slowly as though he could erase this vision by retracing the steps that had brought him here.

As Aura's door slid shut again, it suddenly occurred to him that he had just made a huge mistake. Wherever he was, it was obviously not the Ranger dome he knew, and this was no longer Aura's room. He swallowed, steeling himself to turn around and face a stranger outraged by this invasion of privacy.

Aura was curled on her side, in the same position he had left her just a minute ago. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was almost imperceptible. He studied her for a long moment, not convinced until he realized her mermaid necklace had slipped free when she lay down. The silver pendant glittered against the pillow where it had tangled in her hair, reassuring him that at least one thing remained constant.

He glanced back at the door, but for all he knew the unnerving vision still waited for him on the other side. He didn't know what had prompted it, so who was to say what would happen the next time he walked out her door? Maybe this time he wouldn't be able to leave.

__

Screw class, he thought, reaching down to yank his sneakers off. Dropping his belt next to his sneakers, he put both hands on Aura's bed and pushed experimentally. When she didn't stir, he climbed in beside her with a single, nervous glance over his shoulder. He slipped an arm over her stomach and buried his face against the back of her neck, closing his eyes as he did his best to forget that anything else existed in the world.

***

"Andros." DECA's voice intruded on the holding bay for the first time since the others had left, silencing Andros and Zhane's discussion. "You wished to be notified when the Kerovan Council publicly announced its intentions."

Kerone exchanged glances with Ashley. That could only mean one thing, and even she knew that it wasn't good. None of them had spoken to the Council since Kinwon left a recorded message for Andros that morning, and whether she agreed with their decision or not, it was simple courtesy to involve the Astro Rangers before the Council went public.

They turned as one to catch Andros' reaction, and her curiosity turned to regret when she saw the dark look on her brother's face. Andros was long past the point of dealing with the situation objectively, and he stormed out of the holding bay without a word. Zhane started to follow him, but Ashley's voice stopped him.

"Zhane..." She sighed when he didn't turn around. The Silver Ranger was frozen by the door, clearly waiting for her to speak, but just as obviously not willing to engage in a lengthy conversation. "This isn't the way."

Zhane didn't answer, but neither did he move to leave.

Ashley tried again. "He'll only make things worse if he talks to them now."

"Don't you think I know that?" Zhane snapped. He whirled at last, his eyes alight with anger and repressed hurt. "Don't you think I see what's happening? There's nothing I can do!"

Kerone wasn't even aware of her own wide-eyed stare until he glanced her way and visibly deflated. "I'm sorry," he said with a sigh. Moving back into the room, he reached out to Ashley and she returned his hug fiercely. "It isn't anyone's fault."

Not sure what to say, Kerone let him embrace her in turn. "I know he's handling it wrong," Zhane said, still speaking to Ashley as he let her go. "But even if I can't make him see that, he needs me... and at least someone else will know what's going on."

Ashley nodded mutely, and Zhane shot her a smile before he strode out of the holding bay. It was a smile that saddened Kerone for it was made of equal parts sympathy and wistfulness, and it was so far from his usual devil-may-care expression that it looked out of place on his face. Being at odds with Andros was tearing him up inside.

"He doesn't care about the morphers, does he," she said softly.

Ashley gave her an odd look. "Zhane?" She considered that for a moment, then shook her head. "I guess not," she admitted. "He just wants whatever Andros wants, and he knows this isn't the way to get it."

Kerone frowned. "What is the way?" she wanted to know. "How do we get what Andros wants?"

Ashley hooked one hip over the edge of the table and wiggled her way onto it, the fact that she didn't just hop a testament to how tired she must be. "First," she said with a sigh, "we'd have to figure out *what* Andros wants. And I'm not sure anyone knows what that is anymore."

"He wants the team to stay together," Kerone suggested.

Ashley caught her eye and smiled slightly. It was an odd smile, for Kerone got the feeling that she had just amused her friend somehow. "Maybe," she agreed.

DECA's hologram shimmered into existence, and Ashley actually started at her appearance. Kerone gave her an inquiring look, and DECA folded her arms. "Maybe Andros doesn't want things to change," she offered. "Maybe he doesn't know how to be anything other than the leader of the Astro Rangers."

Ashley obviously didn't feel compelled to soften her opinion when the remark came from DECA rather than Kerone. "He was alone for years, DECA. I don't think it's fear of abandonment that's making him act so strangely."

"I disagree." DECA's impassive tone made the words neutral no matter what the intent behind them. "It is precisely that remembered isolation that makes him afraid to let go of what he found with the Astro Rangers."

Kerone studied DECA's holographic form, surprised to hear such a decided opinion coming from the Megaship's computer. DECA was never reluctant to jump into a conversation, and rarely did she hesitate to offer observations about anything. But unsolicited opinions from her were new, at least as far as Kerone could remember.

Ashley, too, looked thoughtful, though Kerone suspected it was the sentiment rather than the source that made her pensive. "But he still has us," she said at last, looking to DECA for support.

The computer didn't answer, and Ashley frowned. Before she could say anything, though, footsteps in the hallway drew their attention to the door. Zhane poked his head in a moment later, a worried expression on his face. When he realized they were all looking at him, the expression faded a little and he joined them with a sigh.

"Kinwon wasn't there," he said, by way of explanation. "Andros left him a nasty message and went to the Simudeck to work out."

His voice had very little inflection, and it occurred to Kerone that he wasn't so much relieved to see them still here as he was just trying to cover up his concern. Zhane pulled one of the stools out from under the table, folding his arms as he sat down next to Ashley. "What are we going to do?" he asked the room at large.

No one said anything, and finally Ashley ventured, "What did Andros say to Kinwon?" 

Zhane grimaced. "He told him that only Rangers can transfer Power. The Council shouldn't have made a decision like this without us, and Andros basically refused to abide by it."

"Ranger law?" Kerone suggested quietly, aware that she was treading in uncertain territory.

Zhane caught her eye. "There's no such thing," he said bluntly. "There's an unspoken understanding between Ranger teams and planetary governments that the Rangers know what they're doing when it comes to military action, and they leave civilian life to the civilians. But no one is willing to say that Rangers are the highest authority there is, so 'Ranger law' is just an expression."

"And yet Andros can get away with it," Kerone pointed out. "If he doesn't want to hand the morphers over, he doesn't have to."

"Just because he can doesn't mean he should." Ashley looked upset, but Kerone couldn't tell whom the agitation was directed at. "But the Council shouldn't have done what it did, either."

"They didn't even consult us," Zhane agreed. "I think they deliberately waited until we weren't at a Council meeting to discuss this. Whether the Rangers have ultimate authority or not, the Council definitely doesn't, at least when it comes to the Power Rangers."

"The Kerovan government has not dealt with active Rangers since you and Andros defended KO-35 three years ago," DECA remarked. "And you were always a somewhat unorthodox team."

Ashley smiled at that, but Zhane appeared to take her seriously. "You're saying they don't know what they're doing," he said, his tone making it a question.

DECA's image shrugged, which Kerone thought vaguely that she ought to find funny. "I am merely pointing out that the Kerova system's first chosen Rangers were five-year-olds. Its first active Ranger morphed when he was ten, and you and Andros were eleven the first time you fought together."

"You think they're treating us like kids?" Ashley asked, somewhat doubtfully.

Zhane just sat there, staring at the floor. "We always answered to Kinwon," he muttered, as though he was talking to himself. "He told us where and when, and we showed up."

Kerone tossed her head, irritated on their behalf. "The way he's doing now."

Zhane frowned, lifting his head to stare at the jump tubes. "But they're right," he said softly. "They do need a resident team, even if..."

"They're behaving as badly as Andros?" Kerone frowned too. "Can the Alliance be counted on to act more responsibly than this, or will we soon have three groups of children fighting amongst themselves?"

For once, Zhane didn't leap to Andros' defense. "You tell me," he said simply, his gaze sliding toward her. "You're the one who worked with Saryn all that time."

She hesitated, but Ashley and DECA were waiting on her answer too. "No?" she said finally. "I guess they won't see anything but their own interests either."

"The Alliance was formed as a way of protecting its members," DECA reminded them. "Its function is to defend the allied worlds, and if Earth's interests are threatened then the Alliance has no choice but to act."

"But to act how?" Ashley sounded troubled. "What will they do? And what do we do?" she repeated, glancing over at Zhane as she echoed his original question. "We can't be in both places at once."

"No." Zhane propped his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his fists. "We'll have to split the team up."

Kerone looked over at Ashley and found the Yellow Ranger looking back. "More than it already is?" Ashley asked at last, seemingly at a loss for words.

As though it was too much work to lift his head, Zhane just tilted it from one side to the other in an approximation of a headshake. "Exactly how it already is. Any of the Rangers who want to live on KO-35 already do. We have to stop pretending to be a team and accept that."

Kerone gazed at him. "And the morphers?"

Zhane shrugged. "Even Andros admits that morphers belong to the people who hold them. The Council can't just randomly reissue them; I agree with him there. So they're just going to have to deal."

"You wish to do nothing," DECA surmised.

Without moving, Zhane glared over at her holographic form. "If you have a better idea, I'm listening."

"You more than most know that the astromorphers are not the sole Power conduit available," DECA commented. "Split the team if you must, but do not limit yourself to your current circumstances until you have considered all the options."

Zhane stared at her for a moment before his gaze swiveled toward Ashley and Kerone. "Has she always been this assertive?" he wondered aloud.

***

They were lying out in front of the building on a blanket, soaking in the warmth of the sun before the day got too hot. Cassie smiled down at her friends, wondering how long it would take them to notice her if she didn't say anything. In the end, she decided not to find out.

"Hi guys," she said cheerfully, throwing herself down on the blanket beside them. "Slacking already? It's only the first day!"

TJ's eyes snapped open, and he stared up at her in surprise. "Cassie! What are you doing here?"

"Some welcome," she teased. "Whatever happened to 'we're so glad to see you'?"

"We're so glad to see you!" Tessa exclaimed with a giggle, scrambling over her book to give Cassie a hug. "How are you? We haven't seen you in ages! You look so tan!"

Cassie laughed, hugging her back. "I'm great. How are you guys?"

"We're still in shock from your sudden arrival," TJ informed her. "Do I get a hug or what? How long are you staying? Did you decide to try college life after all?"

"I should have," Cassie said, letting go of Tessa to wrap her arms around him. "Look at you guys, lying out in the sun! Do you actually do anything, or is this homework for Beach Bums 101?"

"I went to class," TJ rejoined. "Unlike Ms. Lab Rat here!"

"Labs don't meet on the first day," Tessa replied, unperturbed. "I don't have class until tomorrow."

"Then what are you reading?" Cassie wanted to know, reaching over to grab Tessa's book. She flipped it over to look at the title, and gave TJ's girlfriend an amused look. "Hyperspace?"

Tessa shrugged, not looking the slightest bit embarrassed. "A friend of mine recommended it."

"Yeah, Jay, who thinks exotic matter and the tenth dimension are light reading," TJ put in. "You should see me when we got out to dinner with her friends. They're talking about temporal physics and I'm like, 'Yeah, I'm in remedial counting. Anybody taken that?'"

Cassie giggled, handing the book back. "I think I'll stick to music theory. At least I know what the words mean."

"Yeah, you're singing now, aren't you?" Tessa asked eagerly. "What's it like? How are things going? Tell us about Elisia!"

"It's still there," Cassie said with a grin. "It's hot. And strangely rainy. Saryn says it's a winter thing, but every night we fall asleep to the sound of rain on the roof and it just seems wrong. But everything's growing, so that's cool. I guess it's almost springtime, but I have no idea what to expect."

"Robins?" Tessa suggested impishly. "Are there native birds? What about flowers? Where do you live? Is it big?"

Cassie laughed again. "There are birds, but I don't think they're native. There are lots of flowers. And it's not a mansion, but it's big enough. All the Rangers live in this group of buildings on the edge of the city... you'll have to come visit, both of you."

"Right now?" Tessa made a move to get up, then giggled at TJ's expression. "Just kidding. But say the word and I'm there."

"I'd like to see it too," TJ admitted. "I feel like we haven't even talked to each other in months. At least Ashley and Kerone showed up on our doorstep every few weeks," he added, giving her a good-natured glare.

She held up her hands to ward him off, but she couldn't stop smiling. "I missed you too," she shot back. "You could have called!"

"It's called 'work'," TJ informed her. "Plus I can never get the time difference straight."

"So wake us up," Cassie suggested. "I can't keep track of it either, but no one seems to care. We all have voice mail, which is good since Saryn never answers when he's there alone anyway. Just leave a message."

Tessa glanced at TJ. "I don't know about you, but my communicator definitely doesn't reach that far."

Cassie blinked, a little taken aback. "I forget about that," she confessed. "Can you use the one at Ashley's house? Or Tommy's?"

"It's easier to ask Tommy than Ashley's parents," TJ put in. "They're kind of... Well, they always want to know what's going on."

"Nosy?" Cassie offered, smiling. "I know. That's the nature of parents, I think. Maybe Rocky would let us set something up at the dojo."

Tessa brightened. "That's a good idea! Ask him tomorrow?" she suggested, and TJ leaned over to give her a quick kiss.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied good-naturedly. "Will do.

"So Cassie," he added, turning back to the Pink Ranger. "You didn't come all this way to tell us to call more often, did you? Is everything all right? How are you feeling after last night?"

Cassie shrugged, playing with the bracelet on her wrist. "I'm fine. Saryn's a little freaked, though. He's not too good with the whole disappearing thing."

"Yeah, where is he, anyway?" TJ looked around as though he expected Saryn to hiding behind the bushes. "I'm surprised he let you out of his sight."

Cassie smiled ruefully. "He doesn't know I'm gone. He had to leave before I got up this morning, so he thinks I'm at the fair again."

"The fair?" Tessa repeated. "What fair?"

"It's a spring festival," Cassie told her. "Basically it's just an excuse for the whole city to throw a party, but I'm not complaining. I've been singing there almost every day since it started. Today I told them I had to do Ranger stuff."

"Like?" TJ prompted.

"Like catching up with my friends!" Cassie retorted playfully. "What, that's not enough of a reason for you? You sure know how to make a girl feel unappreciated!"

"I don't believe you." TJ lunged forward, knocking her back onto the blanket as he tickled her without remorse. "Tell us the truth! What's worth sneaking out on Saryn for?"

"I didn't sneak!" Cassie protested through her giggles. "I came to see my friends!"

She was having trouble breathing when he finally let up, and her eyes were tearing as she pushed herself up on her elbows. "Tough crowd," she gasped, trying to stop laughing long enough to form a coherent sentence. "See if I ever come visit you again!"

"You'd better," TJ warned. "Or it's more of the same for you!"

"Don't scare her away," Tessa scolded. "She'll never talk to us again!"

TJ didn't press the subject any further, and Tessa's questions redirected the conversation almost immediately. She didn't know how long they sat out in the sun just talking, but it was long enough to make her miss their easy companionship. Cassie lost all track of time until one of the passersby paused next to their blanket, and the three of them looked up to find Kerone standing over them.

"Hello," she said, curiously polite. "DECA said you wanted to talk to me."

TJ turned an "aha!" expression on Cassie, and she grinned sheepishly. "Hi, Kerone," she said, waving to the other girl to sit down. "TJ and Tessa were just explaining how hard college is."

"It does look difficult," Kerone agreed, sprawling across the blanket beside Tessa. "And you say it takes four years to complete this rigorous course of study?"

"Some people take longer," Tessa put in. "Five or six years, even."

"I see." Kerone rolled over on her back and closed her eyes, a slight smile on her face. "Do I have to be a citizen of Earth in order to participate?"

"No," TJ said cheerfully. "That's the beauty of it. If you can't get in yourself, all you need is a friend with a room and a meal ticket. I used Tessa's all last year."

"And my guest pass is still suffering from the abuse," Tessa added, smirking at him. "I hope you know how many times you'll be taking me out this semester to make up for it."

"Oh, like girls ever eat two thousand dollars worth of food," TJ scoffed. "I'm doing you a favor."

"And saving money which you can then spend on me," Tessa chirped. She gave Kerone a wink. "It all evens out in the end."

TJ rolled his eyes at Cassie, and she tried not to giggle. TJ and Tessa had to be the most normal couple she had ever met. It was a strange thing to think, but then, only when it came to the Astro Rangers could normal seem strange. And she had thought she was different *before* she joined the Power Rangers...

"So is this conversation with Kerone something that we're not supposed to overhear?" TJ asked, breaking into her musing. "It's our blanket, you know, so if you expect us to come up with a polite excuse to disappear--"

"No," Cassie interrupted with a laugh. "No, there's no reason you shouldn't hear this too. I was looking for Kerone because I wanted to give her something, and you guys should know what it is."

Kerone opened one eye, her expression only mildly curious. "You came all the way from Elisia just to give me something? It's not explosive, is it?"

Cassie smiled, digging into her pocket. "Not usually," she said, pulling out her morpher and offering it to Kerone. "It has its moments, though."

Kerone opened her other eye, looking at the morpher and then lifting her gaze to Cassie's face. She didn't move. "I don't need your morpher," she said at last. Her tone wasn't incredulous, or even angry, just a statement of fact and nothing more.

"I know," Cassie agreed carefully. "But I can't keep it anymore, and you're the person I trust the most. I'm not asking you to use it unless you want to, I'm just asking you to keep it safe."

Kerone frowned, but she held out her hand without another word. Cassie put her morpher in her hand, and Kerone's fingers curled around it reluctantly. "I won't take your Power," she said, searching Cassie's expression.

Cassie shrugged. "You don't have to. But it's there if you need it."

Kerone looked up at the device in her hand, holding it in front of her face before turning her head to the side to squint at Cassie again. "You know that if I don't morph, it will never transfer."

"You don't have to take the Pink Power unless you want it," Cassie repeated patiently. "But I need you to have my morpher before the situation on KO-35 gets any more out of control. I can't be a part of the Astro Rangers from Elisia, and I won't put Saryn and his teammates in the middle of this fight."

"Cassie..." TJ didn't look thrilled with this plan. "This isn't going to solve anything."

"If you'd seen Saryn's face last night, you wouldn't say that," she said softly. "I'm not trying to fix KO-35's problem, TJ. I'm just trying to keep it from touching Saryn. He doesn't need anything else to worry about right now."

TJ stared at her. "You're going to give up your morpher so that Saryn won't worry? No offense, Cassie, but I think he can handle it."

"Do you really want her to keep it for herself?" Kerone asked unexpectedly. "Or are you worried that KO-35 will have four morphers to your two?"

"Wait a minute," Cassie interjected before TJ could respond. "This is my decision, you guys. I'm giving Kerone my morpher because I'm an Elisian citizen now. I can't defend Earth, I can't defend KO-35, and Elisia already has five Rangers. Kerone is the most deserving person I know, and I don't care which planet she comes from. She should be the Pink Astro Ranger."

Kerone was still sprawled on her back, but she raised her hand at that. "Excuse me? Did I mention that I don't want to be a Power Ranger?"

Cassie sighed. "Consider it first refusal, then. Whether you use the Power or not, it's your choice to keep it or pass it on. I won't be a Ranger anymore either way."

"The Alliance won't like it," TJ warned.

Cassie threw up her hands. "I don't care what the Alliance thinks! The Alliance wouldn't have been happy no matter what I did! I'm just passing it from one Border planet to another, so it's none of the Alliance's business.

"Did you hear about Kerova's announcement last night?" she added, hoping to divert them a little. "The Council managed to insult Earth at least three different times."

"Four," Kerone corrected, absently wrapping Cassie's morpher around her wrist. She, at least, had stopped protesting. "Zhane and Ashley and I watched the broadcast together. It wasn't so much that they intentionally insulted Earth as they just ignored its existence."

"Ashley told us about it," TJ agreed, still frowning. "She said the Alliance is expected to respond sometime today."

"The news networks want to hear from Earth," Cassie told him. "You're lucky you're out of the loop; it's really crazy out there."

"Is Earth going to make a statement?" Tessa asked uncertainly.

"We are Earth," TJ said dryly. "You and me and Carlos. So no, not unless you want to go in front of intergalactic cameras again."

"It may come to that." Kerone twisted her wrist experimentally. The astromorpher turned into a metallic wristband, then back to a morpher when she twitched it again. "The Alliance will want to know where you stand before they say anything. It may not change their position, but I'm surprised someone hasn't already tried to contact you."

TJ and Cassie exchanged glances. "Would we know if they had?" he asked dryly.

Cassie smiled at that. "How do you get in touch with a planet that doesn't even have interstellar communication?" she countered. "That's a good question."

"The Mega V zords?" Kerone suggested. "Or Aquitar? I bet they'd go to Aquitar, figuring your neighbors would know how to reach you."

TJ looked around as though a transmission might come out of thin air straight to his ears. "Where is Carlos, anyway? I haven't seen him since last night. He'd have had to walk right past us on his way back from class."

"Maybe he didn't come back to the dorm." Tessa craned her neck to follow his gaze. "He could have gone to the library or the dining hall or something."

Cassie made a face. "It's times like this when I can't believe you don't miss your communicators."

"We have communicators," TJ said, reaching into the pocket of his shorts. "They're called phones. You've been on Elisia too long," he added, flipping open his cell phone and pressing a couple of buttons.

From her prone position on the edge of the blanket, Kerone shrugged. "I miss them," she remarked to no one in particular. She was still rolling her wrist idly, making the wristband flicker back and forth between communicator and morpher.

"I'm just waiting for someone to look over and see you doing that," Tessa commented, watching her play with the little device.

"He's not answering," TJ said, sounding surprised.

Cassie shrugged. "Maybe he's busy."

"No, I mean his phone isn't answering." TJ frowned. "I'm not even getting his voice mail."

"Out of range?" Tessa suggested. "He couldn't still be on Aquitar, could he?"

"I hope not." TJ closed his phone and shoved it back into his pocket. "I can't think of anywhere else he'd be, but missing the first day of classes can't be a good thing."

***

A high-pitched beeping was the first sound she identified as external to her dream, and as Aura tried to roll over she realized she wasn't alone. There was someone else in bed with her, and it was a very familiar someone. It was also, she was beginning to suspect, the source of the beeping.

Carlos wore his communicator on his right wrist, which also happened to be the arm he had draped over her in his sleep. The communicator in question was making a very strange noise, and she thought she ought to recognize it. Unfortunately, she hadn't paid as much attention as she'd meant to when Billy was explaining the device to them.

"Carlos," she mumbled, taking his hand as she rolled over. She squinted at the communicator even as it stopped beeping, causing her to abandon her attempt to decipher its message. Instead, she twined her fingers through his and clasped them closer as she turned on her side to study his face. "Carlos," she repeated, watching him stir slightly. "Wake up."

He tilted his head back toward the ceiling before he opened his eyes, and she had to prop herself up on one elbow to see his expression. He squinted in the muted glow of her room, contemplating his surroundings and what they might mean. Only then did he glance back at her, and his face was so inscrutable that her telepathy was sorely tempted.

He saved her the trouble a moment later. "What time is it?" he muttered, stretching his arms above his head. He yawned as soon as he moved, and he shook his head before she could answer. "Never mind. I probably don't want to know."

"You stayed," she murmured. It was the only significant thought she could associate with his presence right now. She watched as he stretched again, his dark eyes closing as he arched his back against the nest of bed cushions and covers. "I thought you were going back."

Carlos sighed, squeezing his eyes shut again before opening them wide and giving her an apologetic look. "So did I. Sorry to crash here without even asking."

"You are long past the point of asking," she chided, studying his expression. There was a reason he wasn't supposed to be here, and she couldn't for the life of her remember what it was. "You are always welcome--did you not have someplace to be today?"

He grimaced up at the ceiling. "Yeah, you could say that. I probably slept through at least one class, and I feel like that doesn't really start the semester off on the right foot."

"Perhaps not," she said carefully, not quite daring to settle down in case he was about to get up. She wanted to curl up next to him and close her eyes again, and she couldn't help being a bit miffed that he hadn't decided to stay until after she was asleep. She hadn't even been able to enjoy his presence. "It starts my day off on the right foot, though."

He turned his head back toward her, smiling unexpectedly. "Yeah, I like this," he admitted. "Did you sleep all right? I hope you had enough room."

"I require far less room than you," she pointed out. She was secretly delighted by his response, and she wondered what had made him change his mind. "I was not crowded."

"Good," he said, yawning again. "I suppose we'd better get up eventually. I need to check the scanners for any dimensional weirdness last night... I saw something really strange just after you fell asleep."

She frowned, noting that he didn't make any move to get out of bed. "Something like what Cassie saw last night?"

He hesitated. "I guess."

Aura waited, and he continued uncertainly, "When I went to leave, the hall was... different. All your names were gone from the doors, and other peoples' names were there instead. I don't know--it sounds kind of silly, now."

"That was what made you stay," she surmised, careful to keep her tone neutral.

When he nodded, she sat up the rest of the way. "If it was real enough to frighten you, it isn't silly," she told him. "I will go with you to investigate."

Carlos pushed himself up, leaning back on his hands as he studied her. "Do you want to change first? I can wait in the hall."

"Are you implying that my appearance is unacceptable?" she countered, and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. 

For answer, he leaned over and kissed her gently. "You're beautiful and you know it," he whispered, kissing her again. "But I know you won't go anywhere until you brush your hair. I'll meet you in Control."

She almost laughed at the conspiratorial look he gave her as he pulled away, and she threw a pillow at him as he got up and headed for the door. "Scaredy-cat!" she called after him, using one of his own epithets.

"Hydrophobe!" He ducked out into the hall before she could throw another pillow, and she smirked at his retreating form. He would pay for that later.

By the time she joined him in the control room, Carlos' tall form was already bent over the scanners. Delphinius stood next to him, another black-clad figure in an otherwise deserted room, and she tried to remember whether Cetaci was on call with them today or not. The White Ranger had requested several personal days at once, and Aura hadn't paid attention to exactly when they began.

"Have you found anything?" she inquired, sidling up to Carlos and peering around his shoulder. "I understand the scanners detected nothing yesterday when Andros experienced this same phenomenon."

"They did not," Delphinius agreed. "However, Andros was not in the Ranger dome at the time. I hoped Carlos' proximity would make a difference, but it does not seem to have had any effect on the results."

She felt Carlos' arm slide around her waist, and she leaned against him as she considered the readings they were scrolling through. "There is no aberration in the scans? I find that unlikely."

"You and me both," Carlos agreed. "You'd think anything that could phase an entire section of the dome would show up somehow. But there isn't even an interruption in the scanner feed from that hallway. It's weird."

"You are certain you were not just tired," Delphinius ventured. "It is not your native language, after all--"

"I know what I saw," Carlos interrupted firmly. "Even if I wasn't reading it right, I know what your names looks like. Especially yours--there's no way the word over your door was long enough to be 'Delphinius'."

Delphinius cocked his head. "And you say this has happened elsewhere?"

"Yeah." Carlos sounded amused. "What, you think it's just some strange effect Aquitar's been having on us lately? Ashley and TJ and I were on Earth when it happened the first time, and Cassie saw something on Elisia last night."

"So it is specific to the Astro Rangers," Delphinius mused. "How odd."

"You have just described everything that happens to Carlos' team," Aura pointed out. "I find incidents such as this quite normal, in fact."

"Very funny," Carlos muttered, squeezing her tighter. "You won't say that when it starts happening to you. It's probably contagious."

"I would not be surprised," she agreed. "That would coincide with the level of strangeness I have come to expect from you and your friends."

The door to the living quarters slid open before he could retort, and her curiosity about Cetaci was satisfied when the White Ranger came through to join them in Control. Their team leader strode up to the console from the other side. Bracing her hands against the panel, she looked Delphinius straight in the eye and announced, "I hate you."

He returned her gaze without flinching. "Do you expect me to react to that in some way?"

"I expect you to explain the message that was on my vid terminal this morning," she shot back. "What point is there in directing such information to me in particular, rather than to Control itself?"

"No one in Control cares except for you," he informed her. "Besides, it doesn't apply to anyone else. I thought you'd want to see it first."

Cetaci narrowed her eyes at him. "I will *never* have your child." With that, she spun around and headed for the lift, disappearing into it without another word.

Aura felt Carlos lower his head to look at her. "What was that about my friends?"

She hid a smile, trying to keep her expression blank as she looked at Delphinius. He caught her eye as though he expected her gaze, and he gave her an innocent shrug. "I hope you don't assume that I am to blame for that outburst."

"She didn't say she hated me," Aura retorted. "What have you done this time?"

The comm chimed, and Delphinius' serene look lightened with amusement. "I did nothing," he told her, moving over to the comm panel. "Why don't you help Carlos with the scanners? I will take care of this."

"Of course you will," she muttered. "He does this on purpose, you know," she said, pretending to address Carlos. "He deliberately upsets her, and the rest of us are left to face her wrath for no cause of our own."

Delphinius ignored her, and she was about to turn back to the scanners when she saw the seal of the Alliance appear on the screen in front of him. That sight, while not unusual in and of itself, was enough to inspire mild curiosity. She exchanged glances with Carlos and by unspoken consent they remained silent, waiting to see who would reply to Delphinius' greeting.

The speaker was no one she recognized, but when it inquired after the Astro Rangers she caught Carlos' eye again. Delphinius didn't even hesitate. "I'm afraid I can not put you in contact with the Rangers of Earth at this time," he said smoothly. "However, if you will state your intent, I will pass your message on to them."

__

The Rangers of Earth. Her mouth formed the words silently, and she saw Carlos raise an eyebrow at the phrasing. It was well known that the Astro Rangers defended multiple worlds, and she had not heard them deliberately referred to as either "Earth" or "Kerovan" Rangers in some time.

When the transmission ended, Delphinius considered the blank screen for a moment before turning to face them. Giving Carlos a searching look, he inquired, "You expected this, I assume?"

"That the Alliance would want us to fight the Kerovan Council?" Carlos sighed. "It crossed our minds. I just didn't think they'd be quite so fast about it."

"I am surprised that Andros has done nothing to stop this," Delphinius said slowly. "I did not think he would let it get as far as it has, and I certainly did not expect to see it on intergalactic news networks."

Carlos gave him an odd look. "It's in the news?"

Aura turned her gaze on Delphinius too, puzzled by the reference. Surely she wouldn't have overlooked a story that mentioned the Astro Rangers, no matter how they were portrayed. "Did something occur yesterday of which I am unaware?"

"You did not hear Kerova's broadcast last night?" Delphinius looked genuinely surprised. Their expressions must have convinced him, though, because he elaborated without prompting. "The Kerovan Council declared their intent to become a fully integrated member of the Frontier Defense, up to and including the presence of a resident Ranger team. References were made to 'their' astromorphers, and it was clear that they are not content with the situation as it stands now."

Carlos swore under his breath. "I'd better go," he said, letting go of her as he straightened up. "Andros is probably ticked, and the rest of the team should know about the Alliance. Thanks for screening that call, by the way."

Delphinius inclined his head. "It was a matter of reflex more than anything else," he admitted. "Now I am glad you did not try to answer questions for which you were unprepared."

"Yeah, we're going to have to figure out what to do," Carlos muttered. "We didn't get anywhere last night, but we didn't know KO-35 was going to go public so soon, either. This isn't good."

"You are a team," Aura reminded him. "The Astro Rangers are a team, no matter the circumstances. Government interference does not override your right to make independent decisions."

"Does that mean the Rangers are autonomous?" Carlos fixed a curiously intent look on her. "Can KO-35 take our morphers from us if we don't want to give them up? How much authority does the Kerovan Council have?"

"With the backing of the Frontier Defense, the Council will be quite influential," Delphinius answered. "They could bring considerable pressure to bear, and their legal authority includes the right to disown the Kerovan team. Nonetheless, there is no existing government with the authority to take the Power from those it has chosen."

"Ranger law," Carlos muttered, glancing from her to Delphinius and back again.

"Indeed." Delphinius looked thoughtful. "I am not aware of any precedent for this situation. I will be interested to know what you decide."

"So will I," Carlos said with a sigh. "Thanks for your help. I'll get back to you when we figure out what to say to the Alliance."

"If there is anything we can do..." Aura left the sentence unfinished, but his grateful smile was answer enough.

"Thanks," he said, reaching out to take her hands. Their fingers entwined and he squeezed gently, adding, "I'll call you later, all right?"

She nodded once, and he leaned down to kiss her before taking a step back. He triggered the "teleport" command from his communicator, and he vanished into a water molecule shape identical to Delphinius'. The shadow whistled out of the room through the ceiling, and she knew he would be stepping out of the teleportation stream on Earth almost as soon as it disappeared from her sight. 

She stared after him for a moment, before Delphinius' movement distracted her. She turned on him, deliberately narrowing her eyes. "What did you say to Cetaci?" she demanded. "She didn't even wait until Carlos was gone!"

He gave a dismissive shrug. "One of the historical tiers completed a ceremonial Ranger genealogy," he said vaguely. "I thought she might want to see it."

Aura stared at him, torn between chastising him and laughing. "You know how sensitive she is about Ranger genes!" But of course he did; that was no doubt what had prompted him to do it in the first place.

The look on his face only confirmed it, and she shook her head. The first in her family to hold the Power and the youngest Aquitian Ranger in generations, Cetaci would never have been considered to lead the team were it not for Delphine's intervention and her own confident assertiveness. Her relationship with the rest of the team was almost impossibly competitive, and her history with Delphinius only made things more interesting.

"At least we will never have the problem that the Astro Rangers face," Delphinius remarked, as though it were a bright side to Cetaci's temperament. "Our White Ranger would quit before allowing anyone in authority to tell her how to run the team."

And she had, Aura knew. Cestria had once implied that someone else could do a better job leading the team, and Cetaci had quit then and there. Only Delphinius had been able to talk her into returning. Still...

"Is it possible that she is not the only one?" Aura wondered aloud. "I do not see Andros taking the Council's decision lightly. Especially if he was not consulted."

Delphinius sobered quickly, but he didn't appear to give the idea serious consideration. "Andros is more the Red Ranger than he is Andros himself. He will not give that up."

"No," Aura murmured, unconvinced. "Perhaps not."

_fin_


	6. Half

__

Disclaimer: I'm still not convinced that power walking is a sport, but SOTPR and probably won't accept my offer to buy them for a pretty penny. Literally. It's a really pretty one, too, all new and shiny... and probably better off in my hands, now that I think of it.

****

Half  
by Starhawk

The table wasn't really one color. It looked like it from a distance, but up close it was full of glittery flecks and silver-white sparkles that made the grey table shine when it was clean. Not that it had ever been clean very often, and recently it had been covered with a fine layer of dust that dulled the gleam even further. But this particular part was so polished that it would probably reflect images when he let the light strike it again.

He exhaled, watching his breath damp down the tiny glimmer that still managed to find the metal tabletop. As the slight fog evaporated the glimmer brightened again, then dimmed with his next breath. The air against his face was warm, and he shifted a little to allow fresh oxygen to wander through the confined space between his arms. More light filtered in, and he closed his eyes to avoid it.

Little glowing shapes danced lazily across the darkness behind his eyelids, and he watched idly as they formed orange mosaics for his amusement. He had found that if he concentrated on them long enough he could make them look like anything he wanted, but he wasn't up for that kind of effort right now. So he just watched them shift as he breathed in, felt the warmth on his skin as he breathed out, and ignored the shiny tabletop in favor of the lightshow in his mind.

"Zhane?" The voice sounded uncertain, and he wondered if he could make it go away by ignoring it. He had heard the teleportation that heralded an interruption of his solitude, but he didn't feel like doing anything about it.

"Are you all right?" Carlos' voice sounded more puzzled than concerned, but it wasn't going away. He supposed he ought to lift his head off of his arms and reassure the Black Ranger, but it seemed like too much work. He was becoming very fond of this table and the orange shapes that played above it.

"Yes," he said, not moving. He heard the sound of footsteps, and the orange glow became a little darker. Carlos must be standing in his light. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" The concern was stronger this time, and he could practically feel the other Ranger hovering over him. "You don't look fine."

With a sigh, Zhane lifted his head and blinked up at the Black Ranger. The world was bright and sharp to his dark-adapted eyes, and the colors seemed to be slightly skewed. It was as though everything had become just a shade more blue while his eyes were closed, and now his vision was trying to compensate.

"Well, I am," he told Carlos, blinking again. "I'm more than fine, in fact. I'm peachy. How are you?"

Carlos frowned, but apparently decided not to press him. "I'm good, I guess. The Alliance wants to talk to the Earth Rangers. Where is everyone?"

"Don't know." Zhane clenched his fists and stacked them on top of each other before resting his chin on them, contemplating the table once more. In point of fact, he did know, but he didn't feel like being responsible for anyone else right now.

"DECA, where are the other Rangers?" Carlos asked, glancing up at the ship's nearest camera.

The camera's red light was already on, Zhane noted. He stared up at the camera without turning his head, gazing at it from the corner of his eye until the angle started to bother him. Looking down at the table again, he wasn't at all surprised by DECA's answer.

"To whom do you refer?" she inquired.

Carlos just sighed. "DECA, I want anyone who has an astromorpher on this ship in five minutes. Do you think you can do that for me?"

DECA didn't react to the impatience in his tone. "I will endeavor to fulfill your request," she said calmly, as though he had asked for some new food from the synthetron.

"Won't work," Zhane remarked, considering the shine on the table's surface. It was, as he had suspected, much stronger directly in front of him. "She won't be able to reach Andros."

"Why not?" Carlos demanded, pulling out a stool from the other side of the table and sitting down. "Where is he?"

Zhane shrugged, reaching out to trace a pattern across the gleaming tabletop. "Don't know," he repeated. "He was gone when I woke up this morning. No message, no nothing. Not answering his communicator."

"Is he all right?" Carlos shifted slightly, and Zhane lifted his gaze to watch the Black Ranger glance back and forth between him and DECA. "Maybe something happened to him. Can we track him down?"

"Already tried." Zhane's fingers tapped moodily against the table, and he decided to stare at them instead of Carlos. "No Power signature anymore. He's not that easy to find when he disappears."

"And you're not worried?" Carlos persisted. "With his talent for getting into trouble?"

Zhane shrugged again, still watching his fingers drum out an idle rhythm against the metal. "He's all right. I'd know otherwise."

"Zhane, are you sure you're okay?" Carlos sounded torn between frustration and worry. "Did something happen? What's going on? Did you and Andros fight?"

Zhane considered that for a moment, formulating one-word answers and trying to remember each question in order. Annoying Carlos was easily the most entertaining thing he'd done all day. "Yes, yes, nothing, and no."

"Then why are you acting like this?" Carlos wanted to know. The frustration in his voice was beginning to edge out the concern, and he sounded about two seconds from throwing his hands in the air and giving up. 

Zhane smiled down at the table. "It's kind of fun." 

He could almost feel Carlos glaring at him. "Well, I'm glad I could amuse you," the Black Ranger said sarcastically.

"Me too," Zhane agreed, not looking up.

Carlos made no further attempts at conversation, and they sat there in silence until the metallic song of magical teleportation intruded. Zhane didn't bother to look over, knowing who would be standing in front of the jump tubes. Kerone had gone to Earth at Cassie's request, and DECA had informed him later that the sorceress was in the company of not only Cassie but TJ and Tessa as well.

She had encouraged him to join them. Zhane wasn't sure whether the suggestion or the intent behind it seemed stranger to him at the moment. He had no reason to visit Earth. In fact, he found himself becoming vaguely resentful of the planet as a whole. DECA, too, seemed to be going out of her way to irritate him today, but he couldn't put his finger on exactly how.

"DECA said it was important." TJ's voice slid across his thoughts without interrupting him, though there was a definite note of urgency in the Blue Ranger's voice. His tone also made it clear that his was a question, not a statement, and he expected an immediate answer.

"It is," Carlos said firmly. "Where's Ashley?"

The way his voice changed told Zhane that he had turned his head, no doubt checking with DECA for an answer Zhane could have given. The rustling of people rearranging themselves as no imminent danger presented itself made him wonder how much longer he could get away without saying anything. They'd probably be making themselves comfortable at the table in a few minutes, and he didn't really feel like moving.

"I have been unable to locate either Ashley or Andros," DECA replied. "They are either not wearing or not responding to their communicators."

"That doesn't sound good." TJ had reverted to leader mode, Zhane noticed. He proceeded to ask exactly the same questions Carlos had voiced. "Could something have happened? Can we track them?"

"You will have to be more specific in your inquiry when it comes to the nature of 'something'," DECA answered with some asperity. "I can conduct a thorough scan for their biosigns, but the procedure will take some time."

"Do it." Zhane could almost hear TJ's attention shift. "Carlos? What's going on?"

"We need to work some things out," Carlos declared. "The Alliance wants to talk to 'the Earth Rangers', and we need to decide whether there's any such thing. I'm sorry to drag you all up here so abruptly, but we didn't get anywhere last night and no one is going to wait around for us to figure out what we're doing."

"Agreed," TJ said, not surprising Zhane in the slightest. "Where do we start?"

"We start with everyone who has a morpher and then we vote." Carlos response was swift and unusually stern, as though he expected objections but wasn't about to put up with them. "It's the only fair way."

"All right," TJ said slowly. Then, with a hint of humor in his voice, he added, "All in favor?"

"Why are you looking at me?" Cassie asked, a moment later. "I'm just along for the ride."

"Sorry." Zhane couldn't read TJ's voice, but he didn't look up even when the Blue Ranger asked neutrally, "Kerone?"

"Voting... seems fair," she said hesitantly.

"Zhane?" Carlos' voice overrode his momentary curiosity at Kerone's response, and Zhane shrugged once. "Is that a yes?"

"Vote, don't vote; I don't care," Zhane told the table. The conversation was too interesting to ignore, but he wished Carlos would stop asking him to participate. "It doesn't have anything to do with me."

"Zhane?" Cassie sounded alarmed, and he suppressed a sigh as the questions began all over again. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said, lifting his head to shoot an exasperated look in her direction. "And I really wish people would stop asking me that!"

"Look, Zhane, you're an Astro Ranger." Carlos' statement left no room for argument. "If you don't vote, we don't have a majority, and we're back to square one. I don't know about you, but I'd like to resolve this sometime this year."

This time Zhane did sigh. "Fine," he said, taking one arm off the table and turning slightly to face them. "What are we voting on?"

"KO-35 wants the Astro Rangers to defend the Kerova system," Carlos said, addressing everyone once more. "The Alliance wants Earth to have Ranger protection too, and I'm pretty sure Earth would agree. But the whole team can't be in two places at once--"

"Split the team," Zhane interrupted. "We're not one team anymore anyway."

"I'd have to agree." TJ sounded a little reluctant, but not uncertain. "Especially after today, there are Kerovan Rangers and there are Earth Rangers. Ashley will have to make her own decision, but we can't ignore the fact that things have changed."

"Especially after today?" Carlos echoed. "What do you mean by that?"

"Cassie gave her morpher to Kerone." TJ's voice was flat, as though his own opinion was irrelevant. Which it was, Zhane supposed. Still, while he wasn't surprised by Cassie's decision, he wouldn't have thought Kerone would go along with it.

"Well," Carlos said, after a moment's pause. "I suppose that makes this more fair. Two votes from Earth and two from KO-35."

"So?" Zhane demanded impatiently. "Are we voting or not?"

"All in favor of splitting the team," TJ declared. "Zhane, Andros, and Kerone become Kerovan Rangers, and Carlos and I continue as Earth Rangers. Ashley decides for herself later. Raise your hand to vote yes."

Zhane lifted his hand, leaving his elbow propped on the table. They knew where he stood. TJ and Carlos raised their hands too, but Kerone shot an uncertain look at Cassie. The other girl just folded her arms, giving Kerone a reassuring smile. After a brief hesitation, Andros' sister slowly held up her hand.

"Well, that was easy," Tessa offered, speaking for the first time.

"KO-35 won't like it," TJ said, lowering his hand with a frown. "They want all the astromorphers defending their planet."

"Tough," Carlos responded. "They're our morphers. Andros gave them to us."

"Will he agree with this decision?" Kerone wanted to know. "I think maybe he wanted to keep the team together, not split it up."

"Andros wants you guys to keep your morphers." Zhane frowned down at the floor, wondering what Andros would say when he found out that they had put Ashley in the uncomfortable position of choosing. "He didn't want us to split up, but he'll go along with it because it means KO-35 has no authority over you anymore."

"Really?" Carlos sounded surprised. "What, just because we say so?"

Zhane lifted his gaze, staring at the Black Ranger curiously. "If you didn't think you could decide for yourself, why did you vote in the first place?"

"So what are we going to say to the Alliance?" TJ asked, into the silence that followed Zhane's question. "And why are they waiting to talk to us when the Kerovan Council didn't bother asking Zhane and Andros?"

"Because the Council is stupid," Zhane muttered under his breath.

There was another silence, until finally Kerone spoke. "Zhane and Ashley and I were talking about that last night," she told TJ. "The Council was wrong not to confer with us. I wasn't convinced the Alliance would do any better, but it looks like they're at least trying. If they'll listen, I think you should tell them what we just decided."

"That the Astro Rangers split up," Carlos agreed. "Now there are two teams, one for Kerova and one for Earth. The Earth Rangers will keep the Power that chose them."

"And the Kerovan Rangers will do the same," Kerone said firmly. "Andros says that's the way it's always worked with the Power Rangers. The Kerovan Council doesn't have any real jurisdiction over the Power, whether the morphers once belonged to them or not."

"Aquitar uses Eltaran morphers," Carlos volunteered. "And so did Earth, once."

"Elisia's morphing crystals are Eltaran," Cassie offered. "Eltare was the first planet to discover how to access the morphing grid. They've been sharing their technology ever since."

"That would be a good thing to mention," Kerone said with a small smile. "If KO-35 is going to blatantly disregard Earth, there's no reason Earth shouldn't make a few pointed comments in return."

"I don't want to turn this into a fight." TJ grabbed one of the stools from underneath the table and sat down, a troubled look on his face. "The morphers are ours, and I don't see that insulting KO-35 is going to make that any more or less true."

"I'm not talking about insulting them," Kerone insisted. "I'm talking about defending your right to be Rangers. If Eltare acknowledges that the Power chooses where it will, regardless of what planet a person is from, then I don't see why KO-35 can't abide by the same rule."

TJ frowned. "It's not us that they're objecting to, exactly. It's not so much that they don't want us to have the Power as it is that they do want their people to have it. It's perfectly understandable for a planet to want a complete Ranger team."

"What's complete?" Kerone retorted. "Zhane and Andros defended KO-35 alone for three years. If the two of them could protect a Border planet in the middle of a war, I don't see why three people can't do just as well during a time of peace."

TJ didn't have any answer for that, but Zhane saw Carlos shrug out of the corner of his eye. "She's got a point," the Black Ranger commented. "I know where you're coming from, TJ, but we can't avoid a fight if we're going to stand up for ourselves. We have to explain why we're not giving up our morphers, to the Alliance if no one else. We can't expect them to defend our decision if we don't tell them why."

"Actually, you can," Cassie interjected. "That's what it means to be an Allied world. But I agree with Carlos. KO-35 started this, and if you don't fight back they'll turn the intergalactic media into their playground."

TJ gave her an amused look. "Is that your professional diplomatic opinion?"

"For whatever it's worth," she agreed, returning his smile. "The Defense can make just as good a case for KO-35, so you'd better give the Alliance as much to work with as you can. It's probably better to get in touch with them sooner rather than later."

Zhane saw TJ and Carlos exchange glances, and he felt compelled to point out, "It would help if you knew what Ashley thinks. If the Earth Rangers are going to take a stand, you should know who the Earth Rangers are." 

TJ didn't answer directly, but he gave DECA's camera a sideways glance. "DECA? Any luck finding them?"

"I have not been able to locate them yet, TJ." DECA's camera blinked, as though she were irritated with her own failure. "I have tried contacting both Andros and Ashley again, but I have yet to receive any kind of response."

TJ got to his feet. "Then let's go looking. Cassie, can you check with the Hammonds?" When she nodded, he glanced at Carlos. "If you can ask around the dorm and see if anyone's seen them, that would be great. Maybe her roommate knows something."

"Sure thing," Carlos said quickly. "What about the Surf Spot? Could they have gone there?"

"Tessa and I will check." TJ caught Tessa's eye, and she smiled in agreement. "We'll hit a couple of places around campus, too. I'll call you if we find anything." He saw Cassie's look, and amended, "I'll call Carlos, and he can call DECA. She'll let everyone know."

*Zhane?* 

The mental query was so unexpected that he blinked. Glancing Kerone's way, he found her regarding him intently. *I could probably find her, if it's important. Do you think I should offer?*

*Up to you.* It was so easy to forget how capable Kerone really was. *But no, if you want my opinion. I don't. She's probably with Andros. Let them hide if they want to.*

*But you said it would help,* she protested.

*I know what I said.* He switched his glare back to the floor, trying not to think dark thoughts that Kerone might overhear. *It doesn't matter, okay?*

"Want to come?" Cassie was asking, the question apparently directed at Kerone. "You can help me think of a story to tell Ash's parents. Plus if you're there they won't ask me about Saryn so much," she said with a rueful grin.

Kerone smiled back, but her expression was apologetic rather than conspiratorial. "I'd like to help, but I have someone waiting for me on KO-35. I'll be late if I stay much longer."

Zhane looked up in surprise, but Cassie didn't bat an eye. "Have fun, then," she told the other girl warmly. "And call me sometime, okay? We should get together."

"I'd like that," Kerone agreed sincerely. "Say hi to Saryn for me."

"I will," Cassie promised.

"See you later, Kerone," TJ added. "Thanks for helping us out today."

Carlos nodded to her. "Take care."

"You too," Kerone said, still smiling. "All of you." She didn't move, clearly waiting on their departure before she made her own.

"DECA?" TJ asked, looking up at her camera. "You know where we're going?"

"It is safe to say that I recall the conversation in far greater detail than you," DECA replied. "Teleporting."

Zhane felt a smirk tug at his expression when he saw outrage flicker across TJ's face just before he disappeared. The Blue Ranger would probably spend all afternoon thinking up a retort. There were days when Zhane would have taken it upon himself to put the computer in her place, whether the remark had been directed at him or not, but today wasn't one of them.

He didn't forget Kerone's reason for not participating, though, and he gave her a curious look. "Who are you meeting on KO-35?" he asked. He hoped he didn't sound as resentful as he felt. It seemed like everyone had something in particular they wanted to be doing lately--and people they wanted to be doing it with.

"Some friends from the agrec crew," she said, studying him. "There's a hay party tonight. I want you to come."

He wasn't sure he'd heard her right. "Excuse me?"

"I want you to come with me," she said patiently. "I think you'd have fun."

She had never invited anyone but Ashley to go with her when she visited her spring friends. For so he had come to think of them: seasonal friends that only existed in the abstract. She'd worked on an agri reclamation site for several months, but she rarely mentioned the people she'd met there. She returned for periodic visits, but she had never asked him or Andros to accompany her.

"Sure," he said, before she could change her mind. "I'd love to go."

Kerone smiled, holding out her hand. "Then come on. I don't want to miss anything."

***

The desert was starting to come alive as she stepped out of the shuttleport, the intense heat of the afternoon beginning to fade into evening's pleasant warmth. Sunset was still far in the future, though, and it was a dramatic change from the night that had hung heavily over Angel Grove by the time Cassie left. She could feel her drowsiness lightening as she set out for the outskirts of town, tucking her Ranger ID into the pocket of her jeans and smiling absently at passersby.

She had meant to return before Saryn, knowing that he wouldn't be happy to come home and find nothing but a message flashing on the vid screen. Looking for Ashley had taken longer than anyone expected, however, and ultimately it had proved unsuccessful. The only clue they had managed to garner was the testimony of her roommate, who reported that Ashley had left early that morning in the company of a boy with long, highlighted hair.

Neither she nor Andros had been heard from since, and eventually TJ and Carlos went ahead and contacted the Alliance without her. The organization took the news of the team's split in stride, and their approval gave the decision a ring of legitimacy that Cassie suspected both of them had been looking for. The Alliance had recorded their statement, but they didn't say whether it would be played during the official rebuttal of KO-35's broadcast or held until later. 

Cassie and Tessa had let the boys treat them to dinner afterward, and despite the circumstances there had been something of a celebratory atmosphere. Carlos had left to call Aura as soon as they finished, but he rejoined them when Tessa suggested a movie and he accompanied them to the park for ice cream afterward. After three months offplanet the movie had been more of a novelty than anything else, but Cassie found that she had missed ice cream.

The Ranger compound was starting to stir by the time she reached it, and the doors to the community center had been thrown open to catch the evening breeze. She wandered in, noting idly that Shei had been fingerpainting again. Child-size handprints covered one of the tables and some of the surrounding floor, and there was a blanket with similar designs hanging near the door to dry. Neither the artist nor her parents were anywhere to be seen, however, and Cassie wondered if one of the Rangers was cooking tonight.

She spent an indecisive moment gazing out into the courtyard, trying to remember whether she should know the answer to that without checking. Eventually, as much out of a desire to postpone the confrontation with Saryn as real curiosity, she went over to investigate the list posted behind the buffet counter. The evening's slot was blank, although Raine had promised to make a walk-through treat before bedtime.

She looked up at the sound of the door chime, glancing around in time to see Kyril pace into the community center. It was his wont to touch the chime upon entering, for his bare feet made no noise on the hard floor. His brother often complained that he was going to scare someone to death sneaking up on them unintentionally, so the Blue Ranger made the effort to alert others to his presence.

Cassie smiled in greeting before turning back to the list, knowing he wasn't likely to speak unless he had come specifically to see her. A moment later, though, she heard a tap on the counter behind her, and she turned to see Kyril leaning casually against it. His gaze was directed over her shoulder at the meal board, but his eyes wandered until they seemed to meet hers entirely by accident.

"Saryn was looking for you," he remarked. He held himself so still that he barely seemed to breathe, but his tone was perfectly normal.

She smiled again, wondering if that meant that Saryn had interrogated everyone in the compound in her absence. "Good," she said lightly. "I'm looking for him too."

"He's across the way," Kyril told her, his gaze sliding away as he straightened up. He moved around the counter, heading for the kitchen without another word. She passed him as she started for the door and it was like passing a ghost. There was a brief fluctuation of air, but nothing more.

"Across the way" could mean almost anything, but she assumed he would have said if Saryn were with one of the others. She probably would have been safer if he had been; Saryn didn't like causing a scene. She wondered if the fact that he hadn't tried to contact her since he'd realized she was gone was good or bad.

The courtyard was welcoming in the way that all familiar places are after an absence, no matter how brief, and Cassie smiled involuntarily as she realized how quickly this place had become her home. She wasn't on vacation, as she had pretended at first, or enjoying it only because Saryn did. She was truly happy here, with friends and their families giving the community a sense of permanence.

She picked up one of Shei's toys and set it under the shaded promenade, where the sun wouldn't fade the colors so quickly, and took a deep breath before heading inside. The door was open and the scent of dinner greeted her the moment she stepped through, both good and normal signs. She was probably making this into more than it was, but then, that had always been Saryn's specialty.

He was standing behind the counter by the stove when she came in. His eyes were fixed on something outside the windows, or maybe he was just staring off into the distance. The intensity of his gaze made it hard to tell sometimes. He didn't turn at her entrance, though he must have known she was there.

Cassie hooked her fingers into the back pockets of her jeans and wandered over to the counter. There was nothing on the stove, but the smell was stronger here and she sniffed appreciatively. "Mmm," she said, watching him out of the corner of her eye while she hunted for the source of the aroma. "Smells good!"

Saryn turned around at last, and his eyes were hooded when he pinned his gaze on her. "You deceived me."

She suppressed a sigh. "Yeah," she agreed, not bothering to argue his conclusion. It was true, after all. A random thought occurred to her then and she was hard-pressed not to smile. "Think how handy that will be on your birthday."

He studied her for a moment. Then, to her surprise, his gaze softened and he looked away. "You could have told me where you were going," he said quietly.

"I thought it would be better if you didn't worry," she offered, feeling awkward all of a sudden. He wasn't angry, just... tired. He was letting other people's problems hound him again, and there wasn't a thing she could do about it.

"We have had this conversation before," he replied, catching her eye. There was a gentle amusement in his voice as he searched her expression. "When we first met... do you remember?"

Still a little off balance, Cassie could only shake her head.

"Not knowing does not make one worry any less," he prompted, clearly expecting her to recognize the statement. "It's not comforting to not know--it's torture."

Her eyes widened. "How do you remember that?" she blurted, unable to keep from smiling as she thought back to that day on the Megaship. "And why does your ability for total recall only apply to things that are inconvenient for me?"

His lips curved in response. "I would hardly share things that weaken my side of the argument," he pointed out. "You have enough of an advantage already."

Relieved to see him so relaxed, she put her elbows on the counter and leaned across it conspiratorially. "You're right," she admitted. "I should have told you."

He echoed her posture, putting his face inches from hers. "You will remember that next time?"

She nodded, and Saryn smiled again. He kissed her once, then drew back to gaze into her eyes again. "I'm glad you're home," he said simply.

She smiled back. "Me too." Cocking her head, she added, "So what's for dinner?"

"Dinner?" he repeated, blinking innocently at her.

She laughed, delighted with his expression. "What, are you going to send me to bed without food?"

Still leaning on the counter, he smirked at her. "That's an idea," he agreed, his gaze trailing suggestively over her upper body. "Are you making promises?"

She leaned closer again, inviting his kiss, and he pressed his mouth to hers hungrily. Cassie closed her eyes and surrendered to the heat and passion behind that kiss, a smoldering desire that he had let burn openly ever since he realized she matched him want for want, need for need. Sometimes it seemed strange to think that they had become lovers before they had been friends, but at times like this she knew exactly how it had happened.

"Still want dinner?" Saryn breathed, kissing his way down to her neck. She tilted her head to the side, knowing she should say "yes" for his sake but unable to make herself voice the word.

"I fail to comprehend why you think I would want to eat when you do not," he murmured, obviously sensing her conflict. "Dinner will keep."

"But I want to know," she said with a sigh, pulling back far enough to catch his eye. "What happened today? Did you see the news?"

He gazed back at her for a long moment, until finally a rueful smile crept onto his face. "Why don't you get out the dishes," he suggested, giving her hair a last caress as he straightened up. "We will eat while you explain to me what possessed you to give your astromorpher to Kerone, and then, if it's a good explanation and you're very lucky, I will tell you what happened here."

She couldn't keep from giggling as she pushed away from the counter and came around the end to join him. "You'd better be nice to me," she threatened, rummaging around in the storage space under the counter. "I'm going to cut your hair after dinner."

"You think you're going to cut my hair," he countered, not missing a beat. "This morning I thought I was married to the Pink Astro Ranger, and as it happens we are both wrong."

Cassie paused, watching him fill their bowls. "Does it bother you?"

He glanced over his shoulder, giving her an arch look. "The thought of you cutting my hair? Would I tease you so much if it did? Your motivation is transparent."

She laughed as she stepped away from the counter and followed him over to the corner windows. "I meant the morpher. Does it bother you that I gave it to Kerone?"

"I didn't want it," he replied, passing her a bowl as he sat down.

"Tell me," she insisted. "I want to know how you feel about it."

He hesitated, contemplating his food. It was several moments before he answered, and she started eating while she waited for his response. It sometimes amused her that she could stump him like this at home when he had never once been at a loss in front of others. It was part of being an empath, she supposed, that he could be better with other people's feelings than with his own.

"I feel relieved," he said at last, looking up. "It is selfish, but you seem somehow--closer, now. But..." He paused again, studying her expression. "I worry that perhaps you have done this more for me than for yourself."

She smiled, not surprised that he had seen through her. "I did it for myself months ago," she assured him. "Now I'm doing it for you. Because I want to, not because I'm making some big sacrifice."

"I appreciate the gesture," he murmured, not taking his eyes off of her. "You have given up much to be with me."

Cassie swallowed another bite and frowned over at him. "I've gotten a lot more than I've given up," she informed him. "Same as you. If you get all guilty on me I'm going to spend the night at Mirine's."

A smile flickered across his face, and the tension in his shoulders relaxed. "Which will also keep your scissors safely away from my hair," he pointed out. "Perhaps it is not such a bad idea after all."

She smirked back at him. "If that's what you really want."

"Stop looking at me like that," he complained, shifting restlessly. "It wasn't my idea to have dinner first. If I let down my shields you would not be so complacent."

"I can block as well as you can," Cassie reminded him, grinning. "Plus the rest of the compound would kill you."

He gave her a look she couldn't interpret, but it was fleeting and he sighed in apparent surrender. "Very well. Let us exchange information and be done with it, then. Why Kerone?"

She blinked, surprised by his abrupt solemnity. It took her a moment to formulate an answer, and she ended up telling him the same thing she had told Kerone. "Because she deserves it. Because I trust her and I think she'd make a good Ranger.

"Besides," she added as an afterthought. "I think the others need her. Maybe having a morpher will give her another reason to stay with them."

Saryn seemed to consider that, and it struck her suddenly that he was sitting in a particularly flattering patch of sunlight. He had probably done it on purpose. Or at least "accidentally on purpose", which seemed to be the way diplomats did everything. If there was one thing she had learned about his profession, it was that nothing was ever as coincidental as it seemed.

"That is very insightful," he said at last, and it took her a moment to remember what he was talking about. "You think she can hold the Kerovan team together?"

Cassie shrugged, gazing idly at Saryn's fingers on the bowl in front of him. "I don't really know. But Andros has a better chance of keeping Ashley with Kerone than without her, and Kerone will keep Zhane from giving up if Andros doesn't stop ignoring him." Saryn's grip was loose now, but she knew it could turn possessive in a heartbeat.

She could feel him regarding her curiously. "Your visit to Earth included time for a thorough psychoanalysis, it seems. Did you deduce all of this in just a few hours?"

She gave her head a shake. "Just a guess... Zhane's pretty depressed. And I know Ashley and Kerone were awfully close this summer. I think I may have been replaced," she added, trying to laugh but distracted by the way Saryn's shirt clung to his shoulders.

Saryn said nothing, but his bright eyes were dark when she lifted her gaze to his. Her eyes widened as she realized what was happening. "You--you sneak!" she sputtered, grabbing a pillow from the chair behind her and throwing it at him as hard as she could. "You're doing that on purpose!"

He deflected the pillow easily, and the grin on his face told her all she needed to know. "You underestimated me," he reminded her, as though it had been a slight of tremendous proportions. "I have no need to broadcast to the entire compound when you are sitting right in front of me."

She closed her eyes, concentrating on blocking his desire from her mind, but the damage had been done. She wanted him, and she wanted him right now. She gritted her teeth, unwilling to give in so easily. "At least tell me what the Defense said," she insisted, not opening her eyes.

She felt him moving closer, and was not surprised to feel a feather-soft kiss on her neck a moment later. "Linnse was predictably horrified by your choice of successors," he murmured, kissing her again. His hands slid across her shoulders, trailing gently down her arms. "I believe Tobin was secretly impressed by your actions. Overall, you have greatly simplified the position of the Defense."

For a long moment, he devoted his attention to kissing rather than speaking, and she would almost have forgiven him for leaving it at that. But he must have known what she was most curious about, for he paused long enough to whisper, "They will be able to focus on containing Kerova, rather than defending you and diverting an internal struggle between KO-35 and Elisia."

She sighed, more from his ministrations than his words. "Good," she murmured, lifting one hand to slide it through his hair and draw him closer. He came willingly, pressing against her back and banishing all other thoughts from her mind. For now there was only the two of them, a forgotten dinner, and all the time in the world.

***

The evening stars had long since set, replaced by midnight skies and eventually the constellations of predawn, but the bonfires burned on and the volume of the music had yet to abate. With hovers parked in every corner of the recently hayed field, the stereo sound was inescapable and occasionally deafening, but no one seemed to mind. One of the advantages of agri reclamation was that neighbors were all but nonexistent.

Sprawled across the back of a trailer, Kerone felt someone nudge her shoulder. She rolled over to find Tevi nodding in the same direction she had been staring a moment earlier. "Is he with you?" the other girl wanted to know, settling down on the trailer bed beside her.

She didn't have to look to know whom Tevi meant. "Yes," she said simply, relaxing again as she gazed up into the heavens. The stars twinkled and beckoned, but not as strongly as they sometimes did. Here she was free, cut off from responsibility and unencumbered by the needs of others. Why run from herself when she could run from everyone else?

"The Silver Ranger," Tevi murmured, as though talking to herself. 

Kerone stiffened anyway, reacting involuntarily to any mention of the Rangers. *Everyone except Zhane,* she amended her earlier thought. She had brought him with the belief that if there was anyone who needed to get away right now, it was Zhane. In doing so, though, she had effectively erased any anonymity she might still have enjoyed on the agrec crew.

Tevi's voice intruded on her musings once again, with a question that could have any number of uncomfortable implications. "Can I ask you something?"

For a moment, Kerone considered saying no. She came here to get away from questions, not answer more. But hearing the question didn't mean she had to answer, and she couldn't help but be curious, so she agreed.

"Why didn't you tell us who you are?" Tevi asked bluntly.

Kerone didn't move. "Does it matter?"

Tevi was quiet for a moment, but at length she chuckled. "I guess not," she admitted, a grin in her voice when she added, "Mud is a great equalizer." 

There was another pause, and then Tevi remarked more seriously, "It doesn't matter now, but it might have then."

Kerone nodded once, still gazing up at the sky. "That's why I didn't tell you."

"So why do you disguise your appearance, but not his?" Tevi wanted to know.

She smiled to herself, amused by the other girl's assumption. "How do you know I'm disguising my appearance?"

"I've seen you on the news," Tevi said, a hint of reproach in her voice. "I know what you look like."

"How do you know that's not the disguise?" Kerone countered. The stars winked back at her, seeming to share her good humor. "How do you know this isn't what I really look like?"

Tevi had no answer for that, and Kerone smiled again. Rolling over on her side, she sought out Zhane with her eyes. He was easy to spot, his white-blonde hair shining brighter in the firelight than his silver clothes. She found it ironic that he blended in better on Earth than he did on KO-35; he looked more "native" there than here on the planet where he'd been born.

"Sorry about my twin," Tevi offered abruptly.

Zhane was playing one of the less decent drinking games with someone Kerone didn't recognize, but with Tevi's words the resemblance became clear. She scrutinized the face as best she could through the shadows and the crowd, trying to remember if Tevi had ever mentioned siblings. "That's your twin?"

"That's Ty," Tevi confirmed. "No matter how many times I try to disown him, he just keeps coming back. He probably didn't see Zhane arrive with you--I'll tell him to back off if you want."

"No," Kerone said absently. "It's all right." Zhane actually seemed to be enjoying himself for the first time all day. That was worth something in and of itself. Without taking her eyes off of him she told Tevi, "We're not exclusive. He can kiss whoever he wants."

Zhane lost again, and when he turned to down his drink he caught her gaze on him. She didn't know what he told Ty, but moments later he was making his way toward her. The trailer shifted under his weight as he climbed up beside them, settling himself with a boneless grace that gave away his intoxicated state even before he opened his mouth. Zhane was usually clumsy on purpose, evincing grace only when he was too distracted to think straight. She had never seen him drunk before, but it didn't surprise her that he would find a way to make even that unusual.

"Hi, Astrea," he announced, grinning at her before switching his attention to Tevi. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

"You know my twin," Tevi informed him. "Whom I'm going to go rescue him before he decides he can play Lunar Twist alone. Nice to meet you, Zhane."

The trailer bobbed again as she slid off, and Zhane just shook his head. "She says that like playing alone is a bad thing," he observed. "Just think, you could flip a coin to see whether you won or lost. Which is basically what you have to do anyway," he added, frowning a little.

Kerone had to smile. "You look like you're having fun," she commented, as he tipped his head back to regard the stars momentarily. "What's Ty like? I've never met him."

Zhane shrugged, lowering his gaze and letting it slide restlessly from her to the nearby bonfire and back again. "He's cool," he said, reverting to Earth slang. "He's not Andros, but he's a cool guy."

Kerone blinked, amused by the comparison of Andros to someone with whom Zhane had been playing Lunar Twist. Not that she didn't think her brother could be bullied into it, but the thought of him going up against Zhane made her giggle. She would have to remember to tell Ashley later. Maybe even Andros--her stoic brother didn't laugh nearly enough anymore.

"Hey, we're all alone," Zhane realized. He seemed oblivious to her humor. "That's convenient. Can I kiss you?"

He didn't wait for her answer, but she pushed him away before he could touch her. "You smell like alcohol," she told him firmly. "No kissing."

He pulled an expression remarkably similar to a pout, and she almost laughed again. She wasn't going to tell him what she thought of alcohol unless he asked, but she also wasn't going to put up with drunken intimacy. "You don't want to kiss me," she said, softening her tone a little. "You just want to kiss."

Zhane frowned at her. "How do you know? And what do you want, anyway? You never tell me."

"Maybe that's because I don't know," she responded, trying to gauge his reaction through the exaggeration of his expression. "But I don't feel like finding out right now. 

"Do you want to go home?" she added belatedly. She probably should have asked before, but she hadn't wanted to pull him away from the party. "It's getting late. It's already after sunrise in Keyota."

"I don't care about Keyota," Zhane said, frowning. "You go if you want to. I'm staying here."

She stared after him as he jumped off of the trailer and walked away. She didn't know what to think of that. Since when did he not care about Keyota? Since when was he irresponsible enough to get drunk and then turn down a ride home? Since when did *he* walk away from *her*?

Ty had found a new conversation partner by now, but even from where she was Kerone could see his face light up when the Silver Ranger came his way again. Another question occurred to her, and it dampened her indignation over Zhane's behavior. _Since when does Zhane have friends outside of the Rangers?_

When she thought about it, she couldn't come up with any other person he consistently spent time with. He was arguably the most social of any of them, yet out of deference to Andros he had formed few lasting friendships outside of the team. She wondered if it had been like that before, on Rayven when they two had been the only Rangers--

Her eyes widened as comprehension dawned. Not only would it have been like that before, Zhane was acting as though it was *still* like that. He had befriended the "new" Astro Rangers, certainly, but he treated Andros like the other half of a team of two. He backed Andros in everything, supported every decision he made, and dropped whatever he was doing at the Red Ranger's whim. He was giving all of himself to a teammate who no longer gave it all back, and she doubted he even realized what was happening.

She wondered if introducing Zhane to the agrec crew would prevent or hasten a final, angry confrontation between the two Rangers.

"Ty will make sure he gets back safely," someone said from behind her. She hadn't heard Tevi return, but she managed not to start at the sound of her voice. "If you want out," Tevi continued, "I have a room back at the hostel."

Kerone looked over her shoulder and found Tevi leaning against the front of the trailer, resting her chin on her arms as she contemplated their surroundings. "You're sure?" she asked, and Tevi's eyes snapped back to her. "About Ty?" she elaborated.

"I know my brother," Tevi answered without hesitation. "He's lonely--his boyfriend was killed in the war--but he's a good person. He'll make sure your boy doesn't get hurt."

__

Your boy. She couldn't help but smile at Tevi's choice of words. "I'll take you up on that, then," she said, stifling a yawn as she stretched. She swung her legs over the side of the trailer and looked at Tevi expectantly. "I've had enough of this party."

Tevi tilted her head to the side in invitation, and Kerone hopped down to follow her across the field. Vehicles still encircled the bonfires and lined the dirt roads, and the fields probably wouldn't be empty of people until after dawn. She glanced back once, but Zhane and Ty were already lost in the dance of the firelight and the pounding hover music.

_fin_


	7. No Matter What

__

Disclaimer: Turkey burgers! "Next to a dog, a book is a girl's best friend. Inside a dog, it's too dark to read." SOTPR, but I'm the queen of Betty Crocker muffin mixes. Fifty cents a package and there are only three steps!

****

No Matter What  
by Starhawk

__

Dare you to throw this at that kid with the blue sweatshirt.

Her eyes widened as she read the hastily scribbled words in the margin of her notebook. She shot Andros an incredulous look, but he was slouched in the chair beside her and paying no attention to her expression. She followed his gaze, her eyes settling on a hooded figure three rows in front of them.

Shaking her head, Ashley wrote wonderingly, _You are so immature!_

Andros glanced in her direction when she tapped the notebook with her pen. His eyes flicked across the words she had written, and he smirked slightly. Lifting his gaze to hers again, he gave her a one-shouldered shrug. The look on his face was clear as day: _So?_

She bit her lip to keep from giggling. Leaning closer so they wouldn't be overheard, she whispered, "Double dare you."

He held out his left hand without a word. There was no way to tear paper quietly, especially in a quiet lecture hall, but she tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. Passing him the torn off corner of her notes, she watched with amusement as Andros leaned forward to crumple the paper under his seat. The chair muffled the noise a little, and she had a sudden image of him as a delinquent kid in grade school.

With a flick of his right wrist, so quickly she wasn't even sure he had done it, Andros lobbed the crumpled up piece of paper at the kid he had pointed out earlier. It struck the shoulder of the blue hooded sweatshirt, no doubt on purpose--Andros had better aim than she did. A better poker face, too... when someone near the blue kid turned around to scan the rest of the room, Andros was already slumped back in his seat, eyes lidded and apparently two seconds from falling asleep.

"I can't believe you just did that," Ashley hissed, lowering her gaze to her notebook quickly.

Andros shrugged again, a slight movement of his shoulders that did little to dispel his drowsy façade. "You dared me," he murmured, not looking over at her.

"You dared me first!" she shot back. The conversation was becoming audible to their neighbors, so she shut her mouth and ignored him for the next few minutes. Apparently a bored Andros was one thing she should remember to avoid in the future.

On the other hand... Her lips curved a little, and she had to admit seeing him like this was infinitely preferable to the way he'd been on KO-35. Maybe moving back there was the wrong idea. Maybe he should come here. _Maybe I could just kidnap him,_ Ashley mused, wondering how difficult such a thing would be.

Her first class ended early, and she figured that was a good thing considering Andros' idle energy. She had already caught him drawing on the arm of his chair and teaching himself to uncap and recap her pen one-handed before he started writing notes to her. He hadn't offered any reason for accompanying her to class in the first place, but she suspected he was trying to prove something.

"Well, that was exciting," Andros remarked, scooping up her backpack as the classroom started to empty out. "Even I lecture better than that professor."

"Andros!" She glanced toward the front of the room automatically, trying not to giggle. "Don't say things like that in here," she warned, gathering up her notebooks when she was satisfied nobody important had overheard.

"Why not?" Andros sounded amused as he preceded her down the aisle and out into the hallway. "It's all the kids behind us could talk about for the first twenty minutes. They were probably right, too."

"Why do I think your lectures would involve random target practice?" Ashley asked, glancing sideways at him.

"It would keep students awake," he countered, holding the door for her. "Plus I could write important syllabus dates on the pieces of paper I threw at them. Then it would be like learning reinforcement or something."

She laughed aloud at his serious expression. "Did you and Zhane ever study that way?"

He grinned. "Maybe," he admitted. "I had more answers, but he was always better with the questions. So we traded. Or we tried to. Sometimes it kind of degenerated."

"You beat each other up instead of studying?" she suggested, smirking.

"We're Rangers," Andros reminded her, with an attempt at dignity. "We don't beat each other up. We spar."

"It's totally different," Ashley agreed, rolling her eyes with a smile. "What was I thinking?"

She didn't take any notice of the cars parked outside the building as they stepped out into the sunlight, but one of them took notice of her and Andros. The honking didn't register at all, as she assumed it was directed at someone else, but Andros glanced up when someone shouted their names. He nudged her shoulder, and she glanced curiously in the direction he indicated.

"Justin?" she gasped, stopping in her tracks before realizing that wasn't a very smart thing to do in front of an academic building between classes. "Justin!" she shouted, waving back at him as she and Andros made their way toward the road. "Where've you been!"

His blue Jeep looked vaguely familiar, but she didn't give it conscious thought until the passenger door popped open of its own accord. She gaped at him, then at the car. "Storm Blaster?"

Justin rapped the steering wheel affectionately. "I've told you not to do that," he said, apparently addressing the car. "We're on Earth, remember. Let me open the doors.

"Hey guys," he added, glancing over at them with a twinkle in his eye. "How's it going? Want a ride? Do you have an hour or two, or ten? I could use your help."

Ashley glanced at her watch out of habit, but Justin had been a teammate too long for her to give the question much thought. "Sure," she agreed, exchanging glances with Andros. He nodded once, and she tossed her notebook in the backseat before climbing in after it. "Count us in," she told the former Blue Turbo Ranger.

"What are you wearing?" she added as an afterthought, catching sight of his shirt as she settled herself in the back. Andros slid into the passenger seat and closed the door behind him, doing a double take at her question.

Justin just laughed. "I didn't bother to change before I left Eltare," he explained, as Storm Blaster stopped idling and shifted into gear. They pulled out of the crosswalk and started crawling through the maze of pedestrians, most of whom didn't seem aware there was anyone else in the road. "I was in a hurry, and this is California, after all."

"Eltare?" Andros repeated, reaching back for his seatbelt. He cast an odd glance over his shoulder before raising an eyebrow at Justin. "No seatbelt laws on Eltare, huh?"

Ashley slapped his shoulder fondly. "Like you should talk, Mr. 'The Power Will Protect Me'!"

He shrugged, giving her a rueful grin. "What can I say, you've got me trained."

"There are seatbelts," Justin interrupted. "Trust me, they're there, and you'll want them soon. Do you guys mind going on a little trip?"

"How little?" Ashley asked suspiciously. "You came all the way from Eltare to take us on a road trip?"

"Not exactly." Justin caught her eye in the rearview mirror and had the grace to look chagrinned. "I came all the way from Eltare to take you back with me. If you'll go, that is. It's kind of a long story, but I can explain it on the way."

Resting his arm on the door, Andros craned his neck to look back at her. "I'm in if you are," he said simply.

Ashley eyed Justin once more. It was hard to tell in the car but he seemed a bit taller than he had been last spring, and his hair was cut in short spikes instead of the shaggy little boy look he had once favored. His clothes were as foreign looking as Cassie's were nowadays, and she couldn't help wondering if everyone was changing but her.

"I'll go," she agreed at last, bracing one elbow against the back of his seat as she gave him a mock-glare. "But you'd better tell us everything, Justin Stewart. And I mean everything! Where have you been? You didn't even go to graduation! What was the point of finishing school early if you weren't going to celebrate?"

"I did celebrate," Justin answered, a grin in his voice. "By getting away from there as fast as I could. Getting through high school was one of the most boring things I ever did. When Storm Blaster came for me last spring, I didn't think I'd ever make it to June. But I did, and you did, and here we are."

"Which is where, exactly?" Ashley frowned at the little back road that had materialized around them while she hadn't been paying attention. She knew Angel Grove fairly well, but she didn't recognize the street they were on now.

"Earth," Justin said. "But not for much longer. You might want to find those seatbelts now." 

So saying, he banged his fist against the door and something clicked audibly over the sound of the engine. Without looking, he drew forth a harness catch and ducked his head to settle it easily over his shoulders. He fastened it without once taking his other hand off of the wheel. Andros imitated his actions, though far less gracefully, and Ashley gave the door to her left a skeptical look.

When Justin gunned the engine, though, she was suddenly convinced. The door responded to her somewhat tentative tap, offering her a harness catch first and feeding it out to her as she struggled to fasten across her body. She looked up as it clicked into place and flinched instinctively at the sight of sky in every direction. She hadn't even felt the shift from pavement to air.

There was no whistle of wind as Storm Blaster continued to accelerate, racing into the heavens without so much as a nod to planetary gravity. As the horizon darkened and disappeared, the stars came out around them and a tunnel of hyperspace whirled them away from the world below. The visible universe was left behind, but Storm Blaster's self-contained environment simulated normal light even as it provided air in the vacuum of space.

"That's not what I heard," Andros was saying, and she realized belatedly that he was responding to something Justin had said. Neither of the boys seemed bothered by their abrupt transition from the normal universe to the external world of hyperrush. "I thought the Eltaran Rangers had enough to worry about right now without dimensional experimentation."

"The Eltaran Rangers aren't actually involved," Justin explained. "Remember the Robot Rangers? And your friends the Psychos? We've been working with Zordon for the past few months, first in an attempt to access ID space and then to move through it."

"Is that even possible?" Andros didn't sound doubtful, just extremely curious. "No one's been able to control that kind of thing since the gateways were built, and the civilization that created them is long since gone and forgotten."

"That's what gave us the idea!" Justin rummaged around what would be the emergency brake in a normal car, paying no attention to the instrumentation and apparently trusting Storm Blaster to navigate. "We thought if we could duplicate that sort of technology, we could create almost instantaneous travel anywhere in the universe. We weren't sure it could really be done, but while we were investigating we found this."

He produced something from underneath his seat, passing it to Andros for inspection and grinning when the Red Ranger looked appropriately impressed. "This is amazing," Andros agreed. "It's you, isn't it? Do you have reliable communication, or was it just the one time?"

"Guys?" Ashley grew tired of waiting for them to explain and decided to just interrupt. "Anyone want to tell me what you're talking about? Or at least translate it into English so I have some chance of catching up?"

"After Cassie's Psycho Ranger kidnapped me last spring I got in touch with the Robot Rangers again," Justin said, twisting to face her without skipping a beat. "Jay, who's me only with electronics instead of organs, wanted to try this crazy experiment with dimensional morphing, but he needed two people with the same Power to make it work. And since Storm Blaster charged my Turbo key for me, we were the perfect people for it.

"It didn't work at first, but eventually we realized it just wasn't working for us. It was working for someone else, somewhere, and that's when we enlisted Zordon's help to communicate with JT. JT is us, or at least me, in the dimension the Turbo powers originated in," he added as an aside. Glancing at the object in Andros' hands, he added, "That's a recording from the first time we got the keycomms to work between dimensions."

"Wait," Ashley said helplessly. She'd like to hope the explanation was about to start making sense, but knowing Justin she was afraid it was only going to get more complicated. "So you and your Robot Ranger are talking with your counterpart in another dimension? Why?"

"We want to try and find a way to send more than radiation," Justin said earnestly. "If we can transmit comm signals reliably we should be able do more, and being able to send objects, even people, back and forth between dimensions would make hyperrush obsolete. We could send a starship from one galaxy to the next in seconds!

"Of course," he added, not as though it mattered, "JT wants it for other reasons, but there's a lot of uses for controllable access to ID space. The thing is that we can't do it without an anchor, and so far the best thing we've been able to come up with is Ranger Power. We think we can use a Ranger's link to the morphing grid to stabilize the transfer and make sure the person actually goes where you're trying to send them, but obviously that's only going to work for a really small percentage of the population. And it won't work at all for inanimate objects, so we're going to have to find something else."

"The grid works because it's extradimensional?" Andros wanted to know. "Do you need something outside of the target dimension to anchor the transfer? What if you used a third dimension as the anchor point?"

"We'd like to do that," Justin agreed, "but there has to be some kind of constant. Say you want to go from our dimension to JT's, and you want to use a third dimension as your anchor. First you have to locate yourself in that third dimension, or the link vanishes as soon as you do. The Power works because it's so easy to trace."

"Guys?" Ashley repeated with amusement. She could either be amused or impatient, and she was enjoying Andros' enthusiasm far too much to become frustrated. So she just suggested, "Maybe you could summarize for me, so I don't feel completely left out?"

"You're trying to build an ID drive, right?" Andros didn't even wait for Justin's nod before turning to Ashley. "Justin's doing what dozens of other incredibly brilliant people have tried to do and failed in the last decade alone. ID space is like cold fusion on Earth. Everyone thinks it should exist, but no one can figure out how to get there."

Ashley sighed, giving him a patient look. "ID space?" she repeated.

"Interdimensional space," Justin put in. "If we could cross dimensions, we could theoretically access a place of near infinite mass, or momentum, that could propel an object tremendous distances in almost no time at all."

"And then crush it," Andros added wryly.

"We'd bring it back before it was crushed," Justin retorted, taking his remark seriously. "But we have to be able to control the transit, and that's where Ranger powers come in. At least for now, we have to have an external link in both dimensions to serve as the anchor. That's where you guys come in."

"I thought you were using the Turbo Power," Andros said with a frown.

"Well, Andy and Lee aren't. They're the ones we want to send, or at least, their counterparts are. JT and Jay and I have to coordinate the transfer to make it work, so Andy and Lee volunteered to be test subjects. But it turns out the Astro Power is stronger in our dimension, so their counterparts offered to try coming here instead of the other way around."

"Wait a minute," Ashley said slowly, glossing over the unfamiliar names. "You're using the Astro Power as an anchor for an experiment that makes people cross dimensions?"

Andros was giving Justin an odd look. "Who are Andy and Lee?"

"They're your Psycho Rangers." The words gave Ashley a chill, but Justin didn't seem to notice. He went on without pausing. "I meant to ask you, have you noticed anything unusual lately? Hallucinations, weird dreams, whatever?"

"Yes." Andros went from wary to irritated comprehension in the blink of an eye. "It's you, isn't it. Using the Astro Power as an anchor is affecting everyone who's held it, not just the people you're trying to transfer."

Justin looked momentarily sheepish. "Yeah," he admitted. "We didn't realize it could happen until yesterday, when Andy and Lee's connection to the Power wasn't as strong as their counterparts'. We thought that was strange, since it was supposed to be stronger in our dimension, but then it occurred to me that their counterparts never shared the Power. There's only one Astro team in JT's dimension, not two."

Andros was silent at that, and Ashley spoke up quickly. "There weren't any Psycho Rangers in his dimension?"

"From what JT says, Dark Spectre has other uses for his power in their dimension." Justin frowned for the first time. "They're at war there, you know. The Turbo Rangers left Earth to reinforce Eltare before it fell, but they lost their powers in the battle, same as we did. I don't know what happened to Earth."

This time, it was Ashley who had no answer. When the quiet stretched out, though, she forced herself to focus on the rest of Justin's explanation. "But you said 'their counterparts'--we must have met up with Andros there too, right?"

"Yeah... I don't know how, but he's there." Justin brightened a little. "And if I'm right about the Astro powers, he'll be here in a few hours."

***

"JT just got back," Justin's doppelganger announced as they walked through the doors. "He says he's ready whenever we are. I told him you had set down and were on your way, so Ashley and Andros are standing by with him."

Andros blinked, not so much at the mention of his name as at the presence of his own twin. Ashley's Psycho Ranger was there too, and both looked up as the doors slid closed again. The resemblance was less eerie than it had once been, and not just because he had mentally braced himself for it. They actually looked... different, somehow.

"Let's do it, then." Justin tossed the vest he had grabbed out of Storm Blaster's backseat on a console and strode over to join "Jay". "He has less time than we do. Are you guys ready?"

According to Justin, their presence ought to be enough to complete the transfer. Since they weren't actually required to do anything, Andros opened his mouth to say "yes" but his double beat him to it. "We're set," he agreed, exchanging glances with "Lee". She nodded in agreement, and Andros shot a sideways glance at Ashley. She looked bemused as he felt.

"Should we wait for Zordon?" Jay wanted to know. "He said he wanted to be here for the trials."

"He saw the first one," Justin answered. Neither of them paused while they spoke; it was as though they were carrying on an internal dialogue out loud. "With the Power they can't get lost, so the worst that can happen is nothing. We'll tell him what happens later."

"It's not like he was that helpful last time, anyway," Andros heard Lee mutter. He saw his Psycho Ranger smirk at her in agreement, and he wondered if his own cynicism was rubbing off on her. When he saw Ashley trying to suppress a smile, he knew she'd had the same thought.

Justin looked up. "Ready?"

"Let's do it," Jay echoed.

Nothing happened.

Both Blue Turbo Rangers turned expectantly, looking from the Psycho Rangers to Andros and Ashley. There was no one else in the room. Before Andros could ask what had gone wrong, Lee remarked, "Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

Andy glanced around the room. "I thought JT said you'd brought your Astro Rangers."

Justin and Jay exchanged alarmed glances. "This isn't good," they said in unison.

"We are the Astro Rangers," Andros said, comprehension fighting to gain a foothold in his mind. If they didn't know that... "Who are you?"

"They switched," Justin said with a frown. "That wasn't supposed to happen."

"JT?" Jay asked, tapping out a sequence on the console. "Do you have Andy and Lee?"

"Looks that way," Justin's voice replied. "How did that happen? And how freaky is it that they're wearing the same clothes?"

The two Rangers that had apparently taken the Psycho Rangers' places looked at each other. "That's weird," the other Andros remarked noncommittally. "I'm glad to know I have as much fashion sense as one of Astronema's clones."

Ashley's double cuffed him on the shoulder. "Be nice," she reproved. "It's probably some freakish psychological thing. You'll get over it."

"What if there's too many of them?" Jay was asking Justin. "Instead of anchoring them, what if it causes some sort of magnetic concentration that automatically pushes them apart?"

"But we tried it with just Andy and Lee," Justin argued. "They weren't enough."

"They didn't have the morphers," Jay pointed out. "What if it's their spirits that repel each other, not the Power? A morpher could be a conduit without the Ranger, right? So what if six of the same Rangers are too much?"

"Great," Justin groaned. "Now we're breaking physical *and* spiritual laws."

Jay seemed to be thinking. "We can't test it on us," he said, as though he was talking to himself. Which, Andros supposed, he technically was. "One of us has to be on either side to make the transfer."

"Zhane volunteers," the other Andros interrupted, and they all turned to look at him. He held up a familiar looking digimorpher, a disarming grin on his face. "He sent it with me on purpose. Want to give it a shot?"

Justin and Jay looked at each other. "He's not here," Jay said slowly.

"But it's his morpher," Justin said, as though that was a logical progression. "It's not from our dimension."

"How does he get back?" the other Ashley broke in. Andros couldn't tell if she was following the conversation better than he was, or just ignoring it better. "Our morphers are still there. But if his is here, and so is he..."

"It's easy enough to backtrack the transfer," Justin assured her.

"Besides, Andros just demonstrated the ability to piggyback signals." Jay plucked the digimorpher out of the other Andros' hand and handed it to Justin. "He brought Zhane's morpher here; there's no reason he can't take it back."

"JT?" Justin asked.

"Zhane's more than willing to try," the disembodied voice answered. "I'm curious too... what do you say we try again?"

"If at first you don't succeed," Jay said cheerfully. "It's all or nothing, after all. He'll either show or he won't; it's not like he'll switch--"

He stopped, and Justin gave him an unreadable look. "That wouldn't happen, would it?"

"I don't think so..." Jay frowned, then caught sight of Andros' expression. "No, of course it won't. I'm sure it'll be fine. Let's do it."

"Right," JT agreed, and a moment later, there was Zhane.

Andros' eyes widened. The first time he hadn't known what to expect and had seen nothing. This time he had expected nothing and had been witness to a dramatic demonstration of the power that Justin and his counterparts sought to harness. His best friend had just appeared out of nowhere in front of him--

The lights went out. It was almost belated, as though the universe had only now realized what they were doing and had decided to take action. The room descended into chaos, but over Justin and Jay's sudden storm of technobabble Andros could hear his double cursing his friend.

"Dammit, Zhane! You had to make a dramatic entrance, didn't you! You couldn't just appear, like any normal interdimensional traveler. No, you're too special for that. You had to have a light show."

"Well, excuse me for trying to top you," Zhane's voice shot back. "You sent a freakin' servant of darkness in your place! What was I supposed to do, sit there and laugh? Which I did, by the way. They probably think I'm insane."

"First impressions are the most accurate," Andros' double answered dryly. "I've always known you're certifiable."

A flashlight came on, illuminating more than half the room with a light strong enough to read by. Andros heard someone--he couldn't tell whether it was Justin or Jay--say that the generator was down, and he met Ashley's worried gaze with his own. What did that mean for the travelers' return trip? It might be easy enough to backtrack, but what if the memory of the transfer one was backtracking had been erased?

"Jay? Justin? Is everyone okay? What's going on?"

Andros started at the sound of Cassie's voice. He reminded himself that it wasn't really her, but it was still hard to believe. The Pink Ranger's face was peering out at them from an emergency hatch beside the door, concern in the shadows of her expression. She curled up and slipped into the room with the easy grace of someone stronger than she looked, surveying the scene more closely as another familiar face appeared behind her.

"We're fine," they answered simultaneously.

"The whole building lost power," TJ's voice put in, as his form unfolded itself from the hatch through which Cassie had just emerged. "Did you kill the backups, too?"

"We were using the backups," Jay replied. He was wearing a t-shirt with a dragon on it, where Justin clearly had on a uniform of some kind. It made them easy to tell apart--as long as they stayed where the light was. "We needed both generators to make the transfers work."

"'Transfers'?" Cassie echoed. Andros couldn't tell if it was her Psycho Ranger or her Robot Ranger that had joined them. "You said--"

"Zhane? What are you doing here?" TJ's confusion overlapped with hers, and Andros wondered if the fact that they recognized Zhane meant they were Psycho Rangers. He couldn't help being a little uncomfortable at the thought of all four of them in the same room with him.

"There were some unexpected variables," Justin said quickly. "John, can you help me with the generator?"

"Sure, but--"

"Everyone else out," Jay interrupted. "Except Andros. JT says you're good with this stuff?"

The other Andros nodded, responding to the way his tone made it a question. "I've been helping him some. You think the second transfer overloaded the generators?"

"No... the power requirements were fixed. I think your Power signatures bridged the dimensions instead of anchoring you within the grid. When Zhane tried to transfer with both morphers in the target dimension, his digimorpher yanked him through but the backlash cut us off again."

"If that's true, then we shouldn't have lost power," Andros' double argued. "The keycomms would have to be recalibrated, but that's no reason for the generators to go down."

"We'd better go," Cassie said, a hint of humor in her voice. "They could go on like this for a while, and we'll just be in their way."

"Always do what you do best," Zhane quipped, and Andros saw his double throw him a look of amused exasperation. "What? I take pride in my ability to interfere!"

"Out," Jay repeated firmly. "The faster we can get JT back, the easier it'll be to figure out what happened."

Ashley's double took Zhane by the arm and gave him a shove. "You've already interfered enough," she told him with a laugh. "Be happy that you've crashed the generator and left the whole building in the dark, all right? Let's go."

Zhane sighed loudly. "You never let me have any fun," he complained, but he allowed Ashley to herd him toward the door.

"We'll have to use the hatches," Cassie told them apologetically, pausing by the one through which she'd entered. "The doors don't actually run off the generator, but they lock when the power goes down for security reasons."

She ducked through the hatch and disappeared, and Zhane followed at Ashley's insistent prodding. She was right behind him, and Andros caught his Ashley's eye before they left the room. She hesitated by the hatch when she saw him watching, and she wrinkled her nose with a rueful smile.

"Is this as weird as I think it is?" Ashley whispered. "I swear, I can't tell who's talking to who anymore."

"I thought it was just me." Andros braced his arm against the hatch and leaned a little closer, whispering in her ear, "You do realize they're all crazy, right?"

"What does that say about us?" she murmured back.

He grinned at her, and she giggled. "Never mind," she conceded. "I already know the answer to that."

"The library is only a couple of buildings down," Cassie was saying, as they joined the others in the hallway. "It'll take us longer to leave here with the doors locked down than it will to get there once we're out."

She nodded to Andros and Ashley, smiling a little in acknowledgement. "I'm Sandy, by the way. In case anyone is too polite to ask, I'm a Robot Ranger, not a Psycho."

"'Sandy'?" Zhane repeated, irrepressible as ever. "Don't you and Andy get confused?"

To Andros' surprise, Sandy laughed. "Actually, yes," she admitted. "We used to have a lot more trouble than we do now. Ceci and I still confuse the heck out of people, though. Somehow they find two of John easier to accept than two of me."

"Ceci is... Psycho Pink?" Ashley guessed, looking a little uncertain.

Sandy nodded, turning away to hide her face in the shadows of the emergency lighting. "We figured it would be easier to get used to nicknames than picking entirely new names," she offered, and there was a click from the wall she was leaning against. The hallway was suddenly flooded with light, and Andros realized that she had just pulled a flashlight out of the dimness.

"How'd you get 'Sandy' from 'Cassie'?" Zhane wanted to know. His Ashley poked him, presumably for being rude, but he just made a face at her. "I'm only curious!"

"I didn't," Sandy answered, looking more amused than anything. She cocked her head over her shoulder, indicating that they should follow her as she started down the corridor. "My real name is 'Cassandra'. I just went by 'Cassie' because it sounded cooler."

"Well, I think 'Sandy's cool," the other Ashley declared.

"Although Ceci has a certain ring to it," Zhane remarked. "Do you use your last name? Cause hers would be redundant if she's using her initials as her nickname."

"That's what TJ does," Ashley pointed out unexpectedly. "Sort of... Is John his Robot Ranger?"

"Yup," Sandy confirmed over her shoulder. "He and Terry split up their name to spare the rest of us," she added with rueful good humor. "Unlike Justin and Jay, who gave us a headache for months before Jay deigned to choose a nickname."

She paused again, doing something to the wall that Andros couldn't quite see. She extracted a second flashlight, which she passed to the other Ashley before continuing down the corridor. "But then, Carlos wouldn't pick a nickname either, before he and Ash left. We haven't heard from them in a while, so I don't know if they're still using their old names or not."

"They left?" Ashley repeated. "Where did they go?"

At the same time, her double exclaimed, "This is crazy! How many of you are there? And how do you ever keep everyone straight?"

Sandy laughed again. "You get used to it," she answered good-naturedly. "It's not so bad, really. Jay and Justin have a blast together, and John and Terry both think they're the best thing since sliced bread. Lee and Ash couldn't stand each other, but they got along with everyone else."

"Is that why Ash left?" Ashley wondered.

"No..." Sandy paused in front of another door, triggering a hatch that opened onto darkness. "She left before that, with Carlos. He freaked out on Zordon one day--he said it was because Zordon kept treating us like copies of the originals." She hesitated. "I think it was probably more than that, but that was all he would tell us before he took off.

"We're going to have to climb," she added, peering through the hatch. "It's a couple of stories up to the nearest hover pad, if you guys are cool with that."

"Whoa," Zhane said quickly. "Climb in what? I don't do small spaces; sorry." 

Andros looked at him in surprise. He was one of a very few people who knew Zhane was claustrophobic, and he had never heard the Silver Ranger admit it aloud. He had to keep reminding himself that this was not the friend he had grown up with. Seeing him, though, it was easy to forget that his Zhane hadn't been this cheerful in weeks.

"It's an emergency tunnel that Maintenance uses to access the lift system," Sandy told him. "There are stairs, too, but they're on the other side of the building."

"Bring on the stairs," Zhane informed her. "I'm not climbing into a dark tunnel."

"How many stories is it?" the other Ashley asked. "Are we going a long way?"

Sandy shook her head, eyeing Zhane with an undecipherable expression. "It's literally two floors to the hover pad; it's really not that bad. It'll only take us a minute."

"Come on, Zhane," the other Ashley coaxed. "Two stories? You've done more than that on the Megaship, and we'll have flashlights. Plus Andros will be there," she added, giving Andros a warning look that said he'd better not contradict her.

Zhane gave her a cross look. "If I could rationalize my way past it, don't you think I would have done it by now? I'm not scared of enclosed spaces, I'm unreasonably and incapacitatingly terrified."

"What if Sandy goes first?" Andros asked suddenly. He'd gotten Zhane through things like this before. "She can open the hatch at the top and shine her flashlight back down, and Ashley can stay down here with hers until we're out. We'll be able to see the way out as soon as we're inside."

Zhane hesitated, and the other Ashley nodded to Sandy. Sandy turned her flashlight off and stuck it in her pocket before ducking through the hatch, clearly more acquainted with the tunnels than Andros had expected. They could hear her sneakers squeak on ladder rungs as she disappeared upwards, and he wondered at her ability to navigate blind--until he remembered that she was a robot with vision that probably surpassed his a dozen times over.

"Want me to go too?" Ashley asked, looking from him to Zhane. She didn't look at all surprised by Zhane's reaction, and he wondered if she had guessed before or if she was just writing it off as a dimensional difference.

"No," Andros said, knowing it would be better for Zhane to get it over with. "We'll go. Ready?" he asked. He stepped through the hatch without waiting for an answer, counting on his friend to follow as he had so many times before. Sandy was at the top as promised, her flashlight illuminating the narrow passage perfectly well.

When a second flashlight lit the tunnel from below, he knew Zhane had joined him. He made the mistake of looking down, and his eyes widened as it occurred to him exactly how far down these maintenance shafts must go. His fingers clenched on the rungs, but he managed to keep moving. The last thing Zhane needed was for him to freeze right now. He kept his eyes straight ahead, knowing that looking up would give him an even harsher sense of vertigo.

Then Sandy was helping him out, prying his fingers off of the ladder and pulling him through the hatch with a grip that probably could have bent hull plating. Zhane was right behind him, his face pale as Sandy dropped her flashlight and used both hands to haul him out and steady him. "You all right?" she asked, searching his expression.

He nodded, brushing her off and slouching over toward the transparent doors at the end of the hallway. Andros met Sandy's gaze, silently apologizing for his friend's behavior. She just smiled and shook her head, mouthing _it's okay _and cocking her head in Zhane's direction. He took the hint, following the Silver Ranger while Sandy waited for the others.

Zhane was leaning against the doors now, and he said nothing as Andros joined him. He looked better, though, greedily soaking up the outdoor vista as he was wont to do whenever he felt trapped. Andros was suddenly struck by the familiarity of that expression: it was the same one his Zhane had been wearing nonstop for the last few days. Now matter how hard he tried he couldn't remember when it had first appeared, and it worried him.

"Tell me how much you love me," Zhane said suddenly, turning away from the window.

Andros blinked, startled. "What?"

Zhane smiled weakly. "You don't play that game, huh?" His gaze wandered back to the door, and he sighed a little. "My Andros always says, 'too much for your own good'."

__

Too much for your own good... He didn't know what to make of that, but Zhane obviously needed reassuring. "I do, you know," he told his friend, the truth of that statement a little frightening in its intensity. "Love you that much, I mean."

It was awkward to say aloud, but it must have been the right thing to do. Zhane grinned at him, the twinkle that Andros had missed so much lately back in his eyes. "Say that to your Zhane the next time you see him and he'll probably kiss you," he said lightly.

Andros blinked again, his image of this Zhane shifting for the second time in as many minutes. "I doubt it," he managed, trying not to sound as amused as he felt. "We--we don't really do that."

Zhane chuckled at his expression. "My Andros sucks at public displays of affection too," he said, misunderstanding. "That's why you should try it. He'll thank you for it; I promise."

"No--" Andros wasn't even sure where to start. "You don't understand. Me and Zhane... we're not like that in this dimension. I mean, you're my best friend, but--I'm with Ashley."

Zhane stared at him. For several seconds, he didn't say a word, and his wide eyes made Andros wonder what he was thinking. Finally, Zhane echoed, "...Ashley? You and Ashley are--together?"

Andros nodded wordlessly, a little uncomfortable with Zhane's obvious shock. He and the other Ashley had seemed friendly enough; he supposed it hadn't really occurred to him that they wouldn't be closer. But then, after hearing Zhane promise to kiss him, he supposed nothing should have been able to surprise him.

Zhane's expression was slowly fading as a pensive look settling over his features. "I must be jealous as hell," he said frankly, studying Andros with unnerving honesty.

"Good job, guys," Ashley interrupted, squeezing both their shoulders as she passed.

Andros started, and for one disorienting moment he wasn't sure who she was. Then he recognized the same clothes Lee had been wearing earlier, and the even brown of her shorter hair, and the world made sense again. It was Zhane's Ashley, the one from the other dimension, reassuring her own Zhane and thanking Andros for playing a part that wasn't really his.

He turned away, seeking out his lighter-haired girlfriend with his eyes as Sandy led the four of them out onto the hover pad. Ashley was chatting easily with Cassie's Robot Ranger, apparently untroubled by the girl's deliberate kinship with her best friend. The two seemed to find this whole situation more entertaining than bizarre, and Andros suspected the other Ashley shared their view. It was in their nature to find the good in everything.

He realized as they took off, though, that it was more than that. His Ashley sat up front with Sandy, eagerly watching the city pass them by, questioning everything she saw and sometimes not even waiting for the answers before asking about something else. It hadn't occurred to him that she might never have been to Eltare before, but now, looking around, he remembered what a majestic first impression the city actually made.

"Hey!" The other Ashley bumped his shoulder as she shoved Zhane, interrupting his contemplation of the skyline. "I only let you have the window seat because I felt sorry for you, you know! Don't take up my space too!"

"I'm not!" Zhane protested. "Andros is probably hogging it; tell him to move over!"

"But he doesn't listen to me the way he listens to you," she purred, turning to bat her eyelashes at Andros. "Don't you want to switch seats, Andros?"

He shot a furtive glance at his Ashley, a little alarmed by her insinuation. Ashley didn't seem to catch it, though, throwing an amused look over her shoulder at them before sighting something else she wanted Sandy to explain. He couldn't help feeling relieved, but he still didn't know what to say to her double. How to explain without getting his Ashley's attention again...

It was Zhane that came to his rescue, sounding more amused than anything. "Leave him alone, Ash; he's had a hard day. Besides, you're just mad that your hair's getting messed up."

Ashley squawked indignantly, shoving him again. "Am not! And don't forget that I saw you steal Andros' comb for the five thousandth time yesterday, so be nice to me or I'm telling!"

It was a good thing the hover trip was brief, because Zhane and Ashley squabbled the whole way. It was friendly bickering that made them sound more like family than anything else, but after Ashley's earlier remark he couldn't help being a little nervous about what might get mentioned. He'd rather his Ashley didn't hear too much about the other Andros' relationship with Zhane.

"I'm just going to find a comm to contact City U," Sandy said, as they disembarked high up on the side of the library. "If John and Justin don't get the generators back up quickly, the city will automatically override our independent power request and turn the lights back on. It's a real pain to get them to disengage again; there's about three pounds worth of paperwork, so I'd rather stop them now before they get that far."

"Sounds like you've done this before," Ashley remarked, following her across the hover pad toward the library entrance.

"Damage control?" Sandy grinned back at her. "Oh yeah. You should have been here the time Justin and Jay turned the entire building into a signal booster for hyperspace teleportation. It screwed up comm codes all over the continent. John and I had a great time trying to explain that one to the city officials."

Ashley trailed after her as she headed for the nearest public comm, but the other Ashley stopped in front of the display in the foyer. She stared at it with a bemused expression, wandering around the hologram and poking her finger through parts of it as she went. Andros gave Zhane an inquiring look, and the Silver Ranger just shrugged.

"Beats me," he answered. "She spends more time at the library than I do; maybe there's a different display in our dimension." Then he shrugged again, a smirk on his face. "Or maybe she's just figuring out the best way to hack it. You're a bad influence on her." 

"Me?" Andros stared at him. "I taught her to hack?"

Zhane grinned. "You taught her most of what she knows about Eltare. You went out hacking together the other night while I was making dinner, and the LO chased you halfway home. I swear I thought they were going to be at the door the next morning."

"You made dinner?" Andros repeated, his brain refusing to process the rest of the story.

Zhane chuckled. "I always make dinner. You can't stand Eltaran food."

Andros' lips twitched. "But you're a terrible cook!" he blurted, unable to contain his amazement.

"Hey!" Zhane cuffed him affectionately. "You never complain! I know everything you'll eat, and I make it better than you can! And let me tell you, I've had a lot of practice over the years."

That last remark made Andros sober, reminded once more that this was not his Zhane. The Zhane who had lost two years of his life to hypersleep hadn't had time to practice much of anything until recently. Studying a familiar face that hid strange memories, he wondered, "Can I ask you something... personal?"

Zhane shrugged easily. "Shoot," he invited.

"When did you--" Andros hesitated. "When did we--I mean..."

"When did we get together?" Zhane asked bluntly, returning his curious gaze. Only when Andros nodded did he look away, a smile playing across his face. "Three years ago. The night after we evacuated KO-35."

Andros swallowed, remembering the harsh realities of that day. There was nothing about those memories that would ever prompt a smile in this dimension. "What happened?" he asked quietly.

"You almost died," Zhane answered. There was a flash of fierce protectiveness in his eyes when he glanced back at Andros. "I could have killed you myself for being so careless," he confessed. "But it was kill you or kiss you... so I did. Kiss you, that is."

Zhane smiled again, a soft look on his face now. "We were just a couple of scared kids back then. Still are, I guess, in some ways. But from that day on I knew I'd die to defend you. Can't live without you; can't beat you up without hearing you whine," he added flippantly.

Andros didn't answer, and Zhane's smile faded. "What is it?" he asked, sounding genuinely concerned. "I know that look."

Andros looked down at the floor, tracing a continental mosaic with his eyes. "You did die," he muttered. "In my dimension, you did die to defend me. DECA put you in hypersleep, and it was two years before you woke up.

"I wasn't sure you ever would," he admitted, lifting his gaze to Zhane's in desperation. Somehow he wanted this alternate version of his friend to understand. "I thought you were gone forever, and it was because of me. I didn't deserve what you gave me."

"Andros." He didn't even realize the Silver Ranger had reached out to him until he felt Zhane's hands gripping his shoulders. "You did deserve it. I'd do anything to keep you in this world, alive and well, whether I could be with you or not. You're the most important thing in my universe; do you understand that?"

Andros stared at him. "You left me alone," he whispered. Suddenly he was angry with himself. He shouldn't be saying these things to someone he didn't even know. And Zhane shouldn't be listening. Justin shouldn't have brought any of them here in the first place.

Zhane didn't flinch at his expression. "No I didn't. You just said I woke up. I'll always be there when you need me, Andros. No matter what our relationship is."

__

When you need me... How much had he needed Zhane lately? Every time he turned around, it seemed that the Silver Ranger was there with encouragement, support, or just a cocky grin when he forgot how to smile himself. He pondered that as the other Ashley rejoined them, pulling Zhane over to see something in the display. Or maybe to mock it, or ask his opinion--Andros didn't follow their conversation very well.

He was still thinking about Zhane's words when Justin contacted them more than an hour later to say that the generators were up and running again. Jay's announcement came moments later, informing them that they were ready to try again, and Andros wondered absently what theory they had concocted during the blackout that made them so certain it wouldn't happen again. Maybe Zordon had arrived in their absence.

That idea was proven wrong as soon as they returned, and Andros couldn't help wondering what the interdimensional being thought of Justin and Jay's experiments. Did he encourage them, or condone them only because he knew the boys would go ahead and try anyway, with or without sanction? They had mentioned him wanting to be present, but they seemed to be drawing all of their own conclusions.

"Did either of you notice the consciousness swapping effect the first time?" Justin asked, as soon as they had more or less reassembled. "Any of you, actually? JT says no one did on his side, but that's not totally conclusive."

"Your 'weird hallucinations'?" Ashley asked. "No, I didn't see anything."

"Me neither," her double agreed. "But I guess that makes sense, since we would have been each other," she added, trading a grin with Ashley.

Andros shook his head wordlessly, watching the way the other Andros folded his arms and leaned casually against Zhane's shoulder. "Nope," his doppelganger replied. "Nothing."

Jay frowned. "It may be more noticeable when you leave a dimension where you have doubles; I don't know."

"We're not really sure why it happens," Justin said cheerfully, "so it's hard to predict. Tell us if you see anything."

Andros felt warm fingers brush his hand, and he tore his gaze away from himself and Zhane. Ashley stood beside him, cocking her head toward Justin and Jay with a smile. His lips quirked in amused acknowledgement, and he shrugged in agreement. Their genius was surpassed only by their enthusiasm.

"Ready?" Jay was asking, and only by watching the two of them could Andros be sure that it had to be JT who answered.

"We're ready here," the third Blue Turbo Ranger agreed over the comm link. "Cross your fingers that the switching thing happens again, because it's going to be a pain to send them all separately."

"Hey!" the other Ashley protested, laughter in her eyes. "Thanks for your concern!"

Justin and Jay grinned at each other, and Andros unconsciously braced himself. There was no perceptible shift, nothing to signal the transfer as it happened--except that Jay had been right. The "weird hallucinations" were back, fleeting but unmistakable when he suddenly found himself holding Zhane's hand instead of Ashley's.

***

Abrupt movement sent his senses reeling, struggling for something to latch onto in the darkness. His head was pounding, threatening to overwhelm everything he couldn't see or hear, and he cursed whatever had roused him from the pleasant oblivion of sleep. For a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity, he didn't know or even care where he was.

Then something penetrated the prickling haze that had wrapped itself around his brain, and he managed to sort the sounds into words. "You all right?" a nearby voice mumbled, still rough with sleep.

Zhane slumped backwards, flinching when his head screamed in protest. "Yeah," he muttered, burying his face in the pillows. "Weird dream."

_fin_


	8. Wake Up

__

Disclaimer: If I were me, which coincidentally I am, I would change my outgoing phone message. And if I were my sister, which I'm not, I would say, "I can do everything a spider can!" The actual point of my disclaimer, which tends to get lost in the chaos, is this: SOTPR.

****

Wake Up  
by Starhawk

It was the phone that woke him up. The ring was fairly innocuous, but it was set to ring and vibrate simultaneously and the vibrate function made it jump whenever it wasn't in his pocket. The sound of a phone skipping across the surface of his desk and finally tumbling off onto the floor was enough to rouse him, and TJ rolled over onto his side to squint at the clock.

It was quarter past seven. His alarm clock should have gone off more than an hour ago, and he scrambled out of bed with a muttered curse. He grabbed for his phone and wasn't surprised to see Tessa's name flashing on the screen.

"Hey," he mumbled, stifling a yawn. "Sorry; my alarm clock didn't go off."

"Hello, class at eight!" she retorted, no trace of sleep in her voice. She'd probably just gotten back from the gym. They'd planned to go together and then eat afterwards, before she had to be in class. "Do you want breakfast, or should I go alone?"

"Give me ten minutes," TJ promised, fumbling with his shirt. He managed to get it on over his head without letting go of the phone, and he started looking around for his keys. "I'll be right there."

"See you soon." She didn't sound skeptical, or even annoyed, which was one of the things he loved about her. No matter how much of a morning person Tessa was, she didn't insist that anyone else be.

"See you," he agreed, hanging up and dropping his phone on the bed while he searched for his sneakers. His ID was clipped to his key ring, which he had left on the desk with his phone, but his shoes were nowhere to be found. He jammed his feet into the sport sandals he'd dropped by the door instead and shuffled across the hall to the bathroom.

There was coffee already made in the kitchen, and mostly gone too. Max had a harder time waking up than he did, so he assumed there had a been a teacher workshop at the local elementary school today. School was the only thing that got his uncle out of bed early on a regular basis, and the regular school year didn't start until next week.

The screen door slammed behind him on his way out, and he grabbed the helmet off his handlebars before turning his bike away from the steps and wheeling it down the driveway. The locked clinked briefly as it slid down the steering column, but he ignored it as he swung out into the road and headed for campus. It was a ride he could make in eight minutes on a good day.

It was a good day. He arrived at Tessa's door sixteen minutes after her phone call had woken him up, and she was slipping her bag over her shoulder as she opened the door for him. "Hey," she said, kissing him in welcome and thrusting a piece of paper into his hand as she pulled him out into the hallway. "Let's go. You can read this on the way."

"What is it?" he wanted to know, glancing down at it while she locked the door behind them.

"E-mail from Ashley," she answered. He kept pace with her easily as she hurried toward the stairs, the garbled text at the top beginning to make sense in light of her words. "The subject line is 'Hell In A Handbasket,' if that tells you anything. I don't think she's too happy."

TJ blinked, scanning the recipients' list. It had been sent to him, Carlos, and Tessa, with a CC to Cassie that was almost an afterthought. Cassie didn't check her e-mail anymore, as far as TJ knew, but she still had a screen name on the Hammonds' account.

__

We were only gone for one day! The e-mail started out indignantly and only became more so as it went on. _How did you guys manage to restructure the universe in 24 hours? And what on Earth did you do? KO-35 is threatening to disown the Astro Rangers and IN is having a field day!_

TJ laughed. He couldn't help it. He saw Tessa shoot him an odd look, and he shrugged as he held the door open for her. "What can I say?" he asked, trying to suppress a grin. "They weren't here. We did what we thought was right. Who'd have thought Ashley would be the one to flip out..."

Tessa smiled a little at that. "I have to admit, I was more worried about Andros than Ashley. From what Kerone said, I thought she was on your side."

"Zhane did say Andros wanted us to keep the morphers," TJ remarked thoughtfully. "But now Ashley has to choose... I guess it's not surprising she'd be upset. It's too bad we couldn't have warned her beforehand--where were they, anyway?"

"She says something about Eltare later on." Tessa gave the e-mail a token glance, but he didn't try to read any more while they were walking. "Between Justin and the Psychos and some connection to the weird things you've all been seeing, I didn't really follow what she was talking about."

"Justin has something to do with it, huh?" TJ shook his head in amusement. "I should have guessed. He got us into almost as much trouble as he got us out of when we were Turbo Rangers."

"Has he been on Eltare long?" Tessa asked, frowning a little. "I didn't even know he had left until Ashley mentioned it."

"Beats me," he admitted. "I haven't seen him all summer. It wouldn't surprise me, though... Justin was so far ahead of the rest of us that school was like a hobby to him. He went because everyone else did, not because he needed to."

"But he graduated, didn't he?"

"Sure," TJ said with a chuckle. "He skipped eighth grade, which almost no one does anymore, and he finished high school a year early. He could have been in college at sixteen, but it sounds like he found something better to do."

Tessa was quiet a moment. "What about his dad?" she asked at last. "I thought he didn't go with you last year because he wanted to stay with his dad."

"He did." TJ sobered a little, wondering about that himself. "I don't know what happened. Maybe he and his dad bonded long enough. Or maybe he still lives with his dad and just visits Eltare on the side; I don't know."

Tessa giggled, and he looked at her in surprise. "Visits Eltare on the side?" she repeated, her eyes sparkling with laughter. "That's what I love about the Rangers. You make these things sound so normal."

"That's what I like about college," TJ countered with a grin. "It makes these things sound so interesting."

"They are!" she exclaimed. "How can you not think that going to other planets is exciting? And meeting aliens, and seeing other dimensions, and--"

"And fighting aliens, and being cloned, and getting e-mails from your teammates that accuse you of sending everything to hell?" he suggested. "Yeah, it's one big party. Remind me to give you a morpher next time one's free and you can see how you like it."

"Put me on the list for Kerone's," she said impishly. "Pink is my second favorite color."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "After blue, you mean?"

She gave him a look of wide-eyed innocence. "How did you guess?"

They were approaching the dining hall by now, and he glanced down at his watch. "Well, you may love me a little less when you see what time it is," he said ruefully. "Should we try to sit down and eat, or do you want to take breakfast with you?"

Tessa looked at her own watch and shook her head. "Plenty of time," she said firmly. "Especially for someone who inhales his food. And it's not like there will be a line."

"Why doesn't anyone eat breakfast?" TJ wanted to know, as they climbed the steps to the main doors. "I don't get it. It's not like there aren't morning classes."

"This from the guy who thinks breakfast is orange juice and coffee!" Tessa retorted. They foyer was predictably deserted, and as they tossed their backpacks in cubbies she added, "No one eats breakfast because no one on campus is civil enough to interact with other people until at least ten, that's my theory."

"So how do you explain eight o'clock classes?" He followed her across the foyer, paying no attention to the bulletin boards and display cases announcing various campus events. The card reader was unmanned this early in the morning, further testament to the lack of traffic in the dining halls at breakfast time.

"Eight o'clocks were thought up by someone who had no idea how universities actually work," Tessa informed him. "Probably an administrator--or maybe a scientist, since all the science classes are offered at eight. Somebody who works nine to five, anyway."

"Or eight to four." TJ paused to swipe his ID before picking up a tray and silverware. "That's another question. Why do all the support staff come in and leave an hour earlier than the rest of the country?"

"They're probably trying to make up for the students," Tessa answered over her shoulder. "Since we get up at noon and go to bed at four in the morning, the OS is engaged in a futile effort to normalize through balance."

"All right, Physics Girl." TJ snapped the tongs in one of the heated buffet dishes at the serving bar, holding up something that was vaguely pancake-like. "If you're so smart, identify this."

Tessa was already waiting at the end of the bar, with nothing but a hard-boiled egg on her tray. "Hash browns," she said immediately, and he gave it an odd look.

"Are you sure?" he asked doubtfully. It didn't look like potatoes.

She rolled her eyes. "There's a reason I don't eat from the bar at breakfast," she reminded him. "My stomach can't take the uncertainty this early in the morning. I'll meet you in the back."

He shrugged, taking two of the potato pancakes, some bacon, and a couple of hard-boiled eggs. He stopped to get both orange juice and coffee, just because he could, and he grinned in anticipation of Tessa's reaction. She thought the combination of fruit sugar and caffeine was what had addicted a state of sports' extremists to Surge. While TJ tended to agree, he didn't see why it was a bad thing.

She was already eating when he joined her, her spoon in a bowl of cereal and her fingers wrapped around a glass of apple juice. TJ frowned in mock disapproval as he sat down across from her. "That," he told her, "is a disgustingly healthy breakfast."

Tessa smile beatifically. "Excuse me," she said, pushing her chair back with careful dignity. "I forgot to get my fruit. I'll be right back."

He rolled his eyes, but he was grinning as he dug into his own food. He was almost as hungry as if he had gone to the gym with her, and he was willing to take his chances with dining hall food. It wasn't up to Max's standards, but it was better than anything TJ could have done on his own. Besides, if something didn't measure up there was always more. He had no trouble believing the "freshman fifteen" jokes about how much weight students gained during their first year.

His gaze drifted back to Ashley's e-mail, and he pulled it out from under his plate so he could skim it while he ate. He hadn't had time to check his e-mail before he left this morning, but Tessa must have thought it was important if she'd printed it out for him. Besides Ashley's ranting about them making decisions without her, not to mention her confusing references to Justin and the Robot Rangers, there was a something at the end that made him sit up and take notice.

__

If KO-35 really does disown the Astro Rangers, you know, Andros will have to leave. Kerone too, and probably Zhane. He spent years trying to get his home back, and now he could lose it all over again. How would you like being exiled for the rest of your lives?

TJ frowned, alarmed not only by the words but by the sentiment behind them. He hadn't realized how seriously Ashley was taking this. Or how seriously KO-35 was taking it, if what she was saying was true. Wouldn't Kerone have said something if she thought that splitting the team could get her and her brother exiled from their home planet?

"Read the rest of the e-mail?" Tessa asked sympathetically, dropping a banana on her tray as she sat down again. "She sounded pretty worried there toward the end."

"Yeah," TJ said slowly. "I didn't realize it was that big a deal. Why didn't Kerone say anything last night?"

Tessa peeled her banana halfway down and started slicing off pieces into her cereal. "About KO-35 disowning them, you mean? Maybe because it's not very likely? I mean, no matter how upset they are, I can't really imagine a planet exiling its own Rangers. Especially one like KO-35. They're not exactly the safest place in the universe as it is."

TJ couldn't disagree with that. "Isn't disowning their Rangers kind of counterproductive anyway?" he mused. "Their whole point is that they want more Rangers, not less."

"And definitely not none," Tessa put in. "The forces of evil would just love that. 'Oh, look, a helpless little planet in the middle of nowhere! Not only does it have no Rangers, but it's already been overrun twice before!"

"Third time's the charm?" TJ agreed with a chuckle. "I see what you mean. What would make them threaten to do that, then? They must be a lot more upset about this morpher thing than we thought."

"They're bluffing," Tessa said with certainty. Before he could answer, she added, "Or maybe Ashley's exaggerating. I mean, I love her, but she is a little..."

"Dramatic?" TJ suggested.

"Yeah." Tessa swirled her spoon around in her bowl some more, drowning the remaining cheerios in milk and picking out one of the banana slices with her fingers. Popping it into her mouth, she continued, "Maybe she's just upset and trying to lay on the guilt, you know? Worst case scenario stuff."

TJ had already finished off his hash browns and bacon, and he rolled one of his eggs over the tabletop as he considered that. "But why is she so upset? We should have told her, sure, but she wasn't here and Kerone made it sound like she and Zhane and Ashley had already decided basically the same thing the night before anyway. If she knew this was going to happen, why is she swearing at us every other line?"

"I thought she was joking at first," Tessa admitted, glancing at the paper on his tray once more. "The only time I've heard her that indignant is when she's kidding, so I didn't realize she was serious until the end."

"Oh, I've seen her mad before." TJ concentrated on peeling his egg, debating whether this instance really fell into that category. "I can't tell if she's totally serious or not--I feel like it might be a little of both, but it's hard to tell in an e-mail."

"But you do think she's angry at having to choose," Tessa said, the statement more of a question when coupled with the expression on her face.

"Sure," he agreed readily. "In fact, maybe that's why she brought Andros into it; I don't know. She has to join either Earth or KO-35 now, and she's not going to want to. Earth is her home, but..."

"But Andros wants her on KO-35?" Tessa finished. "It's like she has to take sides. I didn't think of that yesterday."

TJ grimaced. "I didn't either." He put salt on the last bite of his egg and reached for the second one as he swallowed. "It doesn't change things, though. I'm sorry for what it means to her, but the team had to split. We did the right thing--the only thing we could do, without leaving Earth unprotected."

Tessa nodded in silent agreement, and for a moment neither of them said anything.

Then TJ brightened deliberately. "Speaking of Homecoming," he remarked, raising his eyebrows at her. "What are you doing this weekend?"

She laughed, though whether at the change of subject or his expression it was impossible to tell. "This weekend... Let's see, I'm working in the lab, going to a study group for Differential Equations, and, from the looks of the textbook, reading about three hundred pages for Thermodynamics." 

TJ waved his hand dismissively. "I mean after Friday night. What are you doing the rest of the weekend?"

She made a face at him. "Jock," she accused. "Do you know how much Ned teases me for going out with an athlete? Honestly, it's like you're from another planet or something."

"You're confusing me with my friends," he replied, smirking at her. "So are you going to the game? Because I'm working all Saturday, and I'll let you into the tailgate party if you come keep me company."

"How did you get assigned to the tailgate party?" she demanded. "You can't even drink!"

TJ grinned. "Strange campus, isn't it? But Max is bringing the grill, some friends, and a lot of hamburger, and I know Tommy and Kat are planning to be there. Rocky was even trying to talk Penny into it, last I heard, and Jason went to Homecoming last year."

"Oh, so lots of my friends," Tessa agreed, straight-faced.

"I'll let Karen in if you bring her," he coaxed. "And Jay, if you can pry him away from the lab long enough. Come on; I'll be so bored if you aren't there!"

"You are such a bad influence on me," she muttered, but he could see her trying to hide a smile. "I'll think about it, all right? I have to get to class."

"I'll walk you," he offered, gulping the rest of his coffee as he stood up. "Where are you going? Brandon?"

"You don't have to do that," she protested. "It's halfway across campus."

"I'm just trying to make up for missing our gym date," he assured her, setting his tray on the conveyor belt behind hers. "It's the least I can do. And I promise not to bug you about Homecoming for another--" He took a quick look at his watch. "Three or four hours, or until lunch, whichever comes first."

She laughed. "I guess that's fair," she conceded, pushing open the heavy fire doors that let out into the foyer. "Want to meet out front?"

"Sounds good to me." He swung his backpack over his shoulder, holding the main door for her on the way out. "I'm going to try and track Ashley down before class, see if I can find out what's going on."

He felt his phone hum as they started down the stairs. Fishing it out of his pocket, he raised an eyebrow at the screen. "Message from Carlos," he said, by way of explanation. "Probably doesn't think I'm awake yet," he added with a grin.

The message said simply, _Checked your e-mail recently?_

He relayed the question to Tessa, then punched Carlos' number into his phone and held it to his ear as they walked. There were more people around now, proving that no matter how many complaints there were about eight o'clocks, some students still got up. At least at the beginning of the semester.

"Hey," Carlos' voice greeted him over the phone. "Did you get Ashley's e-mail?"

"Yeah," he said, glancing at Tessa. "Or at least Tess did, and she showed it to me. She sounds ticked."

"She may be ticked, but she doesn't have any room to complain." Carlos sounded a little irritated himself. "Two-thirds of the team voted to split up. We can't stay together just because she doesn't want to choose between us and Andros."

"I thought that might be what she was really upset about too," TJ said, switching his phone to the other ear so he could take Tessa's hand. He squeezed it apologetically, but she just smiled at him. "I wonder what Andros thinks of the whole thing."

"Did you follow any of that stuff about Eltare?" Carlos asked abruptly. "With Justin and the Psychos?"

"Not much of it," TJ admitted. "I'm heading over in a few minutes to see if I can get some answers. Are you in the dorm?"

"Yeah," Carlos confirmed. "I'll meet you there."

"Right." He hung up and dropped his phone back into his pocket, looking up and down the street automatically as they crossed toward Brandon Hall. "Carlos is going to meet me at Ladd in a few minutes," he told Tessa, turning to her when they paused in front of the building. "I don't know if Ashley's there or not, but maybe we can work things out."

"Good luck," she said with a smile, going up on her tiptoes for a kiss. "It'll be all right, TJ. You did the right thing."

"Thanks." He smiled back, stroking her curls lightly. "Have fun in class."

She rolled her eyes, indicating what she thought the likelihood of that was, but she waved as she turned away. "See you at lunch!" she called over her shoulder.

He waved back, watching until she disappeared through the doors. Then he headed back the way they'd come, wondering whether Carlos would actually wait for him or if the Black Ranger was already knocking on Ashley's door. He'd bet on the latter. Carlos wasn't one to wait around after making a decision.

TJ wasn't disappointed. By the time he reached the third floor of Ladd, Ashley's door was open and it was clear from the conversation inside that she wasn't alone. He stuck his head in, knocking on the door to get their attention, and he smiled when she and Carlos looked up at the same moment.

"Morning," he offered, hoping their closeness was a good sign. "Can I come in?"

"Sure, of course," Ashley said, jumping up. "Missy's off doing yoga somewhere, so I have the room to myself this morning. Carlos said you got my e-mail."

"Yeah," he said, raising an eyebrow at her as he let go of the doorframe and claimed her desk chair. "I read it."

She actually looked a little uncomfortable, and he waited expectantly. "I'm sorry," Ashley said at last, still standing. "I didn't mean it to sound so... huffy. It's just that we didn't get back until really late last night, and then when we saw the news--Andros just got this look on his face, and I guess I kind of freaked out."

"How is Andros taking it?" Carlos wanted to know. "Since you brought it up."

Ashley shifted, frowning down at the floor. "I don't know, exactly," she said at last. "He didn't look mad. He didn't look... anything. He just looked... detached, like he didn't care anymore. And he only looks like that when he's about to do something really drastic, but he won't tell me what it is. It scares me," she confessed, looking over at Carlos.

"Wait a minute," TJ interrupted. "I get the feeling I'm missing something here. Andros got all weird when he heard we'd split up?"

"No," Ashley said quickly. "I think he saw that coming, to tell you the truth. But," she added, glaring at him, "I didn't expect you to do it without us here! Thanks a lot!"

TJ shrugged. "It's not like we didn't make the effort. We had DECA running bioscans of the whole planet, but the clock was ticking and we couldn't find you guys anywhere. Next time leave a forwarding address."

For a moment her expression didn't change, but finally she sighed. "Okay, that's fair, I guess. But for the record, we didn't expect to be gone that long. Justin showed up with some wild story about interdimensional travel, and somehow we ended up on Eltare before I even figured out what he was talking about. I still don't really understand it, to tell the truth."

"Which explains why your e-mail on the subject was one of the most confusing things I've ever read," Carlos put in, and she shot him a look that said she was two seconds from sticking her tongue out at him. "What? It was!"

"So why are you worried about Andros, again?" TJ asked, making an attempt to force the conversation back into some sort of linear progression.

Ashley hesitated, diverted. "He's going to do something," she murmured. "I just don't know what."

"KO-35 released some kind of statement last night," Carlos answered, when TJ gave him an exasperated glance. "Ashley says they refused to sanction the Astro Rangers' decision. Of course, the rest of the universe doesn't care whether they sanction it or not, but basically it's their way of saying they disapprove."

"Well, we didn't expect them to throw us a party," TJ commented. "Why did it surprise Andros?"

"It's not that it surprised him," Ashley said with a sigh. "It's the fact that IN is making a huge deal out of it, and KO-35 isn't doing anything to stop them. It's all over the news that the Kerova system is two steps away from disowning their Rangers, which it turns out no one in the history of the League has ever done."

TJ found himself at a loss for words, but Carlos didn't have that problem. "At least we know where Andros gets his stubbornness," he quipped. "Too bad we can't tell whether it's genetic or cultural."

Instead of protesting, Ashley seemed to relax a little. Sinking back onto the bed, she wrinkled her nose at Carlos. "Definitely cultural," she said, with surprising good humor. "The whole Council can't be related, and they're the ones that started this mess."

"As long as we have someone to blame," Carlos replied. "Aren't there a few other things we could pin on them while we're at it? World hunger, the existence of evil, that sort of thing?"

Ashley actually giggled a little. "Intergalactic news?" she suggested. "Homework? The creation of oatmeal?"

"Sounds just like them, the sneaky devils," Carlos agreed. "And I can't believe I just said 'sneaky devils', so you'd better cheer up or it will have been for nothing."

Ashley laughed again, then leaned over to hug him impulsively. "I do feel better," she admitted. "Thanks, Carlos. And TJ. I missed you guys this summer," she added, smiling at them both. "It's nice to have you around again."

"We aim to please," TJ said good-naturedly, putting the rest of his questions about KO-35 on hold and choosing a safer subject. "And speaking of missing persons, what's going on with Justin? What made him kidnap you and Andros yesterday?"

"Where is Andros, anyway?" Carlos interrupted, derailing TJ's effort. "I thought he'd be here--did he take off to try and intimidate the Council in person? I wouldn't put it past him."

"He didn't say," Ashley said slowly. At least she looked more pensive than concerned this time. "He left for KO-35 this morning, but if he had a plan he didn't tell me what it was."

***

Zhane woke up. That was all he was sure of at first, though eventually it did occur to him that there was light. It looked like sunlight, even, which meant that it was probably daytime. He added that to the list of things he knew and rolled over, hoping for a better glimpse of his surroundings.

The light pierced his eyes as he came face to face with a window, and he flinched. It was harder to see with his eyes closed, but he figured the tradeoff was one he was willing to make. His head throbbed as he struggled to sit up, and between that and the stabbing pain that had come with the light he didn't notice how sore he was until he tried to swing his legs over the edge of the bed.

He stifled a gasp, wondering if getting up was really worth all this effort. Maybe he could just stay in bed until he felt better. Unfortunately, the major flaw in that plan was that this didn't seem to be his bed, and since he didn't actually know where he was he couldn't be certain he wanted to stay here. He cracked his eyes open once more, considering the part of the room that he could see.

It was a nice enough room, he supposed, not much neater than the one he shared with Andros but larger and better lit. Sunlight streamed in through two large windows on the south side, but he found that as long as he didn't look directly at them the light didn't bother him so much. It certainly didn't bother the plants that crowded the corners and stretched out across every available surface, and he wondered briefly why they weren't clustered around the windows.

The windows... he didn't dare glance back at them, but it suddenly occurred to him that he wasn't wearing anything. He looked around carefully, not sure he was up to anything more than a visual search. Despite the fact that the floor was littered with clothes, none of them seemed to be his. He was just trying to decide what to do about that when he realized his silver t-shirt and dark trousers had been folded neatly and placed on the other side of the bed.

There were a lot of things that Zhane wasn't very clear on about the night before, but he was pretty sure he hadn't done that. Presumably, then, he hadn't gone to bed alone. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he was that he had woken up during the night--and that he hadn't been alone then, either.

__

Great, he thought with a sigh. _Not only did I get drunk enough to sleep with someone, I don't even remember who it was. That's going to go over really well._ He was guessing from the unfamiliar surroundings that it hadn't been Astrea, and from the way he felt he suspected it hadn't even been a "her".

On the plus side, he was less likely to offend a guy by forgetting his name than a girl.

He reached over to retrieve his trousers, wincing when the movement threw off his tenuous equilibrium. He persevered, though, managing to pull them on and push himself into a standing position somewhat simultaneously. He stopped there, congratulating himself on the accomplishment while he eyed his shirt warily. It smelled of smoke and it was dirtier than it was wrinkled, which was saying something.

He couldn't convince himself to put it on. Instead he made his way toward the only doorway as he was, avoiding the windows as best he could and hoping he didn't look quite as ragged as he felt. He took a deep breath by the door, steeling himself for the uncertainty of the other side before pushing it open.

A boy with wavy chestnut hair looked up from the table, his gaze flicking across Zhane's bare chest before catching his eye. He put his mug down and got to his feet, smiling a little in welcome. "Morning," he said, then shot a look toward the window and amended, "Well, afternoon, anyway.

"I'm Ty," he added, lifting his shoulders with a self-consciousness that seemed uncharacteristic somehow.

Zhane relaxed slightly. "I'm Zhane," he offered, smiling in return. "Thanks, uh--thanks for letting me sleep."

"Just woke up myself," Ty assured him, but his freshly washed appearance and the steaming mug in front of him gave the lie to his words. "I made some tea, if your head's bothering you. And there's hot water if you want a shower."

"That'd be great," Zhane agreed gratefully. "Thanks."

Ty was already taking another mug out of the drainer and filling it with something that steamed as he poured it. He cocked his head at Zhane, indicating that he should follow, and led the way into a bathroom near what seemed to be the front door. He caught a glimpse of open fields through the window, and he wondered again exactly where he was. 

"The showers are in the back," Ty was saying, setting the mug down between the sinks and pulling a clean towel out of one of the cupboards. "The other guys aren't up yet, so you should have the bathroom to yourself."

He tried to remember if he knew anything about how the agrec crew lived, or more specifically what size groups they lived in, but he could call nothing to mind. In lieu of asking, he said simply, "Sounds good," and waited until Ty pulled the door shut behind him on his way out.

He didn't hear the door open again, but Ty must have been back through because by the time he emerged from his shower there were clean clothes by the sink. He was still alone in the bathroom, so they were obviously intended for him--but his trousers were there too, making it clear that it was just an offer, not a suggestion. He decided to take Ty up on it, since his own clothes weren't in any condition to be smelled--let alone worn--right now.

Between the tea, the shower, and the clothes, he felt almost decent by the time he left the bathroom and found Ty fussing over the stove. The other boy lifted his head when the door opened, and there was an appreciative look in his eyes when he caught sight of Zhane. "You should think about joining agrec," he joked. "Black looks good on you."

Zhane grinned. "Not as good as it looks on you," he tossed back, falling easily into the tease-compliment routine. This was a game he knew. "If I'd known this was where all the good-looking people were hiding, I'd have come out here a long time ago."

"Just as well you didn't," Ty answered over his shoulder. "I only volunteered a couple of months ago, and I'd have been disappointed if someone else got to you first."

"You and me both," Zhane agreed, dropping his towel over the back of a chair and running his fingers through his still damp hair. That was when he noticed the peculiarity of Ty's appearance. "Hey, when did you get up, anyway? Your hair's dry!"

Ty laughed, not turning around. It was a pleasant sound, and Zhane found himself grinning again. It was nice to meet someone who knew levity when he heard it. The world took itself entirely too seriously these days.

"There's a hot air compressor out back," Ty said, gesturing with one hand. "We use it on our clothes when it's raining out. Keeps my hair from taking hours to dry when I'm not outside."

Zhane studied him for a minute. The brown waves of Ty's auburn-streaked hair fell to his shoulders, and it was probably longer when water added weight to straighten it out. He wondered suddenly what it looked like in the sun, if the highlights glowed red the way they promised to in the muted indoor light. He wondered, too, what color Ty's skin was in the real light of day, without dark shadows or flickers of firelight--

"What?" Ty was asking, giving a half-smile over his shoulder. "Just because your hair probably takes five minutes to dry, don't begrudge me my vanity."

Zhane flashed his most charming smile in return. "I was just wondering what you look like in the sunshine," he said frankly. "Because if you're anymore beautiful than you are now, I won't be able to look directly at you."

Ty laughed again, shaking his head as he turned back to the stove. "You're good," he admitted, a note of admiration in his voice. "You're really good. So are you going to let me feed you before you sneak off, or should I leave the extra food for my housemates?"

Zhane's smile faded a little. "Am I sneaking off?" he asked, making sure his voice was neutral. "Is there a time limit, or do I just have to be gone by the time your friends get up?"

"Well--" Ty flipped the old burner off on the stove and glanced back at him, wariness on his face. "No, I mean... I thought you had one. A time limit, I mean."

Zhane frowned, trying to remember what he could possibly have said the night before.

Ty must have misinterpreted his silence. "I wasn't sure if you wanted to be seen here, that's all," he said quickly. "I understand that what happened last night was just a--a thing, and I don't... I don't want you to feel like you have some kind of obligation."

Zhane stared at him, and a sudden revelation overwhelmed whatever he had been about to say. "Wow," he breathed into the silence. "Your eyes are gold!"

Ty blinked, looking startled, and Zhane shook his head. "Sorry," he apologized, drawing back. "I only know one other person with gold eyes, and it surprised me.

"I don't feel like I have an obligation," he added, before Ty could answer. "I won't pretend I remember all of what happened last night, but if you're offering breakfast, don't think I won't take you up on it."

  
"It's actually closer to lunch, now," Ty murmured, but he looked pleased. "And I'm not much of a cook, but I can make omelets with the best of them. Or maybe the most mediocre of them--it's sort of a toss up."

Relieved to be back on familiar footing, Zhane commented, "Well, I'd offer to help, but I'm told I shouldn't be allowed to boil water, much less prepare food. My role in the kitchen is more that of the unconditional complimenter than anything else."

Ty grinned, looking more sure of himself as he agreed, "I can live with that. There are plates in that cupboard over there, if you want to grab something to eat off of. Do you want anything to drink?"

"Yeah," Zhane said ruefully, then paused. "I was going to say, 'more of that tea', but my headache's gone. What's in that stuff, anyway?"

Ty shrugged, pulling a couple of glasses out of a drawer. "Just some herbs... it's a local remedy, I think." He caught Zhane's knowing expression and his lips quirked. "Of course, we add a stimulant and some serious painkillers."

"Of course," Zhane agreed good-naturedly. "No reason to be miserable."

Ty lifted a glass in salute. "Exactly what I say!"

They had the table and the room to themselves for most of breakfast, and despite Ty's warning the food tasted exceptionally good. Zhane supposed it helped that he couldn't remember the last time he had eaten, but on the other hand, the mere fact that he couldn't remember was linked to the idea that food of any kind ought to be making him nauseous right now. So he stopped wondering and just enjoyed it, trading jokes and the occasional snide comment with the resident chef while they ate.

One of the housemates Ty had mentioned wandered through as they were finishing up, but his eyes were only half open and he didn't acknowledge them in any way as he headed for the bathroom. Another boy appeared a few minutes later, looking considerably more awake, but he poured himself some tea and headed outside without a word. Their lack of curiosity put Zhane back at ease, and he released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"If they weren't so hung over they might at least have said hi," Ty offered apologetically. "None of us are very social in the morning."

Zhane waved it away, getting to his feet to help Ty with the dishes. "I make it a habit never to speak to anyone for at least half an hour after I wake up," he commented. "No matter where I am, I always wake up disoriented and mean. It's bad for my image."

Ty chuckled. "Does that mean you were lying awake in my room for half an hour before you came out here?"

Zhane smirked at him. "Does that mean you don't think I was disoriented and mean? I like you better the longer I talk to you."

"I have that effect on a lot of people," Ty remarked. "My sister calls it brainwashing."

"Consider me brainwashed," Zhane said agreeably. "You'll have to teach me sometime."

Ty paused, an odd smile on his face. "I think you've got it down," he replied. "Trust me." As he took Zhane's plate and put it on the wash rack, he added, "So are you in a hurry, or can I give you a hover tour? There's a lot of land out there, and most of it's in full bloom right now."

"Can't," Zhane said regretfully. He couldn't remember what Astrea had said the time difference was, but he knew it was later in Keyota than it was here. "I'd better go make sure the others haven't disbanded the Council or something. Blown it up, maybe; Astrea would probably like that."

"Right, of course." Ty offered a token smile. "We've even heard about that out here. Good luck with--everything."

Ty actually looked disappointed, and that was enough to convince Zhane that he wasn't just being polite. "Hey," he said impulsively. "Are you busy tonight? We don't have any hay parties, but Keyota's kind of a fun place... I bet we could find something to do."

Ty's smile widened. "I'd like that," he agreed. "I've never been to Keyota."

"I'll pick you up so you don't have to fly into the city alone," Zhane suggested. "The traffic's a nightmare. Do you want dinner? I promise not to cook."

"Sure," Ty said with a laugh. "That sounds great. Is seven all right?"

Zhane tried to do the math in his head, but he didn't even know where to start. "I have no idea what the time difference is," he confessed, giving Ty a rueful grin. "Tell me how many hours that is from now, and I'll be here."

***

The words were starting to blur together on the screen. She blinked, refocused, and watched the letters sharpen once more. She got through a few more sentences before they began to waver again, and she lowered the reader with little regret. She hadn't really felt like reading anyway, but it seemed lazy to lie around doing nothing.

Kerone turned her head so she could watch the sun slant across the courtyard. The light was more adventurous than she felt this morning. Stretched out on the windowseat in the common room, she was only barely motivated to keep her eyes open, let alone do anything constructive. She wondered idly if she could justify taking a nap so soon after getting up.

She didn't think she dozed off, but she started when the door slammed across the hall. For one panicked moment, she thought someone had gotten past Ecliptor and come for her, but the common room registered as "friendly" before she could follow through with the assassin reflex. She took a measured breath as her heartbeat started to slow, and she wondered if she would ever get over that.

"Kerone?"

At the sound of Andros' voice, she closed her eyes again, hoping he would go away if he thought she was napping. It wasn't so much that she wanted to avoid him as it was that she just didn't want to talk to him. She knew what he was going to ask, and she doubted he would be pleased with the answer.

"Kerone?" Andros' tone was gentler now, but it wasn't going away. "Kerone, wake up. I need to talk to you."

She barely kept herself from sighing as she opened her eyes. "About what?" she murmured, surprised when she didn't have to feign the fog in her voice. She must have been asleep longer than she thought.

"About your morpher," he answered, sitting down beside her on the edge of the windowseat.

She blinked up at him. "What?" That wasn't what she had expected at all.

"I need to talk to you about your morpher," he repeated patiently. "The Council is pretty upset about us 'giving' Earth three of our morphers, and since I wasn't there when you voted, I want to know what you think."

She did sigh this time, putting one hand behind her head and staring deliberately up at the ceiling. "Andros, can't we have one day where we don't talk about the Council? Just one day."

He was quiet for a moment, and she couldn't help glancing at him to see what his expression looked like. It wasn't brooding or resigned, as she had expected. In fact, it was so out of context that it took her a moment to recognize it, but when she did, she sat up abruptly and stared at him harder.

Andros looked smug. She hadn't seen him look smug in weeks, maybe longer. Yet here he was, the smirk on his face faint but unmistakable as he gazed out the window.

"How about more than a day?" he suggested at last, his eye drawn back to her when she sat up. "How about several at a time? Starting tomorrow."

She narrowed her eyes at him, her mind racing as she tried to figure out what he was up to. He didn't want to talk about the Council. It must have something to do with Ashley. Had she told him what they had discussed the night the Council first tried to recall the morphers? Could she somehow have convinced him that ignoring Kinwon would be more effective than trying to fight him?

But he had asked about the morpher Cassie gave her, and he'd mentioned the vote--was he having second thoughts? Did he want her reassurance that the team was doing the right thing, or did he have something else in mind? She hadn't been able to outthink him as Astronema, and she couldn't do it as Kerone either. It drove her crazy.

"Kerone," he said, watching her intently. "I need to know. Did you vote to split the team?"

She nodded without hesitation. "I voted to make the split that already existed official, yes. TJ and Carlos should keep their morphers, whether Earth needs them right now or not. So should Ashley."

Andros smiled, surprising her again. "Yeah, they should. How did the others vote?"

"It was unanimous." She was still trying to figure out where he was going with this, futile though the effort might be. "If you agree, then..."

"You just said you weren't sure Earth needed Rangers right now," Andros interrupted, when she trailed off. "What about KO-35? Do you think it needs Rangers?"

Kerone frowned. "You mean militarily? In terms of planetary defense? No, I don't think either planet needs a Ranger team right now. But that's not all the Rangers are."

"No, it's not," Andros agreed. "The Alliance seems to know that, don't you think?"

She glared at him. "Andros, if you're trying to say something, just say it. This is stupid."

Instead of glaring back at her, her brother grinned. "I know. But I had a lot of time to think about it on the way here, and I'm trying to see if it makes as much sense out loud as it did in my head."

"If *what* makes sense?" she demanded. "If you're saying that the Council doesn't appreciate the Rangers, I'm not arguing. But I don't see what difference it makes. We can't change the Council."

"But we can change the Rangers," Andros replied. "If the Council doesn't like the way we're handling things, why don't we just resign? You've always said you don't want to be a Ranger, and I'm getting really tired of this fight. It's not like there are lives at stake."

Kerone gaped at him. As the meaning of his words sank in, she gave him a suspicious look. "Who are you, and what have you done with my brother? Since when do you quit? You've been a Ranger all your life, and you're going to give it up for good?"

Andros shrugged idly. "Zhane says you can't fight every little battle that comes along or you won't have enough left for the ones that count," he said, and the moment he mentioned the Silver Ranger she knew he wasn't considering this just to spite the Council. He actually had thought about it.

"Lately I feel like we've been fighting an endless series of little battles," he added, glancing out the window before looking back at her. "They don't mean anything, but the Council never lets up. I'm tired, it's wearing Zhane down, and I know you hate it. So let's stop."

"I'm not disagreeing," she said slowly, trying to work through the implications in her head before she committed herself to either side. "And I'm certainly not a Ranger. But you will be whether you resign or not, probably for the rest of your life. Are you sure you wouldn't regret giving up the Power?"

"No," Andros answered. He shrugged again, giving her a response so typical of him that she almost laughed. "But I think it's the right thing to do."

"Strangely," she said, feeling a smile play about her lips, "that makes me feel better."

The door slammed again, and a black blur bounded down the hallway toward the stairs. There was something vaguely familiar about it, but she hadn't quite gotten her mind past its energetic bounce when Andros called out to it. "Zhane, wait up!"

Kerone winced. She wished now that Andros had asked the question she'd been dreading earlier. She had come to some alarming conclusions about an hour after climbing into bed this morning, and she was going to make sure Zhane paid for her lost sleep later. In the meantime, she could think of very few ways for this to go well.

There was a thump in the hallway, which she guessed meant Zhane had made it up three or four of the stairs before hearing Andros' shout. He was still running when he hit the common room, grabbing the doorframe and swinging to slow his momentum as he galloped into the room. He had a huge grin on his face and his good spirits were so contagious that she laughed aloud.

He threw himself down on the windowseat beside her, winking when he let his head fall back on her shoulder. "Hello," he said cheekily. "Is this space taken?"

"It is now," she said, trying to stifle another giggle. "Having a good day?"

He threw his arms out to the sides, stopping just short of hitting the window. "How could you tell?" he demanded dramatically. "I thought I was being so subtle!"

"About as subtle as you always are," she retorted, seeing Andros grin out of the corner of her eye. His change of clothes hadn't escaped her, but she hoped that if she didn't comment on it, Andros might not ask either. "Listen up," she suggested. "My brother has something interesting to say for once."

Zhane let his head roll to the side so he could regard Andros upside down. "Hey, Andros," he offered, no discernible change in his tone. "I haven't seen you in years! Well, days," he corrected, as though it were almost the same thing.

"Looks like Kerone's been keeping you busy," Andros answered with a grin.

She blinked, and then she realized that Andros had no way of knowing that the agrec genetics symbol on Zhane's shirt was any different from the general crew logo she had worn. As far as he was concerned, agrec was agrec. She glanced at Zhane, but he didn't seem inclined to enlighten Andros either.

"Had to find something to do," he said instead. This time she noticed the slightly less enthusiastic note in his voice, and she wondered if he sounded cooler only because she was listening for it. "So what's your exciting news?"

She glanced at Andros as Zhane sat up, giving the Red Ranger an expectant look as he straightened. Whether intentionally or not, Zhane radiated impatience by virtue of his sheer energy, and that Andros noticed. If he hadn't picked up on the change in his friend's tone, he didn't miss the implication that Zhane was about three seconds from leaping to his feet again.

"I think we should resign," Andros said, making no attempt to soften his declaration. "Give up our morphers, let new Astro Rangers take our places. There are better things we could be doing, and I'm tired of the Council."

"Me too," Zhane agreed, bouncing up off the windowseat. "But I'm not giving up my morpher. Good idea, though; let me know how it turns out." And he sauntered out of the room without another word.

Kerone stared at the door for several seconds before it occurred to her to go after him. Obviously, Andros wasn't the only one who'd had enough--leave it to Zhane to snap cheerfully and completely without warning. She scrambled up from her place by the windows and darted toward the door, but Andros' voice stopped her before she could reach the hallway.

"Kerone?" He sounded utterly bewildered. "What's going on?"

She rolled her eyes. "Does it look like I'm the one you should be asking?" she demanded, turning back to face him. "Why did you ask me what I thought but not Zhane? Why did you explain it to me and not him? Is he just an extension of you now?"

"That's not fair!" Andros protested. "I know how Zhane thinks, okay? I wasn't sure how you'd react, so I asked. I don't have to ask with Zhane. I just know."

"You just know," she repeated, staring at him. When he glared back at her, she rolled her eyes. "You can't really think that's my shirt he's wearing, Andros." She left the common room without waiting for his answer.

_fin_


	9. War Games

__

Disclaimer: SOTPR. "I'm not afraid of the dark. Just the things in it." It's not that I'm against flashlights, it's just that I was taught never to carry a lantern into the moonlight. Maybe politics aren't scarier than the forces of evil after all.

****

War Games  
by Starhawk

He had time to change, which was more than he'd expected. Zhane was pulling a clean t-shirt on over his head when the knock came, and he sighed. "I'm not here!" he called, knowing it was a futile gesture.

"Neither am I!" It was Astrea's voice, and she actually sounded amused, both of which were probably good signs. "I'm coming in whether you invite me or not, so open up."

"Come in," he grumbled, and the door slid open. He watched warily as she slipped inside. "If I wanted to talk about it, I'd still be in the common room," he warned.

"Andros didn't send me," she replied. "I just wanted to make sure you were all right. Tevi promised me Ty would take care of you last night--did he?"

He frowned. "What, do you have spies everywhere? Who's Tevi?"

"Ty's twin," she answered, making herself comfortable on his unmade bed. "We worked together on the crew, but I didn't know she had a brother until last night. Is he nice?"

Zhane shrugged, unwilling to commit until he knew where this conversation was going. "I guess," he allowed. "He's pretty..."

She looked up, focusing abruptly. "He's pretty what?" she prompted.

He broke into a grin and he couldn't resist. "He's just pretty. I have good taste."

Her serious expression dissolved, and Andros' sister giggled. "I've always known that," she teased. "You chased me, after all."

"I wouldn't say I chased you," he protested, but he threw himself down on the bed next to her anyway. "I'd say you stalked me, that's what I'd say. Then," he admitted, catching her indignant look, "I chased you."

She smiled. "There was mutual chasing," she agreed. "It turned out well."

"Yeah..." He felt around for her hand, managing to find it without lifting his head. Sliding his fingers through hers, he raised their clasped hands so he could see them from where he was. "It did turn out well."

Astrea leaned back against the pillows, her head next to his as she too stared up at their hands. "So," she commented idly. "We've established that you chase pretty people." There was a pause, and her next remark caught him completely off guard. "Andros is pretty."

He glanced over at her, searching her face when she turned her head toward him. Her expression was inscrutable, and he said the only thing that he could think of to say. "What?"

"Andros is pretty," she repeated, as though he might not have heard her the first time. "It runs in the family," she added, an impish smile gracing her lips. "Don't you think?"

"No," he said quickly. "I mean, sure, but--what do you mean?"

She managed a credible impression of a shrug, despite the fact that she was almost lying down. "Nothing. I just think Ty and Andros have a lot in common, that's all."

He didn't have to feign confusion this time. "Why are you talking about? The only way they could be less alike is if one of them was a girl."

An odd look flickered across her face. "Do you remember playing Lunar Twist last night?"

He squinted up at the ceiling, letting his arm fall but keeping his hand in hers. "Maybe," he decided at last. "Sort of. With Ty?"

He felt her nod before he looked over at her. "With Ty," she agreed, the odd look still on her face. "Later I asked you what he was like, and do you know what you said?"

"Is this going somewhere?" he asked, irritated and more worried than he wanted to admit. Astrea didn't usually play games, and he didn't think she was doing this just to torture him. She had something in mind, and he suspected he wasn't going to like her conclusions.

"You said he wasn't Andros," she told him.

Zhane just looked at her, willing his face not to reveal anything.

"You were practically making out with Ty," she continued, studying him. "And all you could say about him was, 'he's not Andros.'"

He pulled his hand out of hers and sat up, staring at the opposite wall without seeing it. Nope, definitely not liking her conclusions. "I was drunk, Astrea. People say stupid things when they're drunk."

"People say things they think they shouldn't when they're drunk," she countered, not moving. "That doesn't mean they're not true."

"So? It's true; he isn't Andros. I was probably proud of myself for noticing something. It sounds like one of those things people think is really insightful when they're drunk and then are glad to forget the next day."

"Maybe." She didn't sound convinced. "To me it sounds like something else."

He ran a hand through his hair, aware of her gaze on him without even turning around. "Is this going somewhere?" he repeated, more subdued this time.

He felt the bed shift with her movement as she pulled her legs in and sat up, not too close. She might have been leaning against the wall, but he didn't dare turn and look. Even if his expression had been neutral before, he was sure it wasn't now.

"When you say you love him," she said quietly. "You don't mean like a brother, do you."

He sighed. "Could you remind me never to get drunk around you again?"

She let out a breath of amusement. "I'm not talking about last night. You've said it before; I just never really listened. Even when we were talking about being exclusive, I didn't think..."

"Neither did I," Zhane interrupted, before she could get too far along that track. "This is more recent than that. Honest." 

She didn't answer, and finally he glanced back at her. The skeptical look on her face made him sigh again, and he flopped back on the bed beside her. "Okay, so maybe you're not totally wrong. But it wasn't an issue until now, anyway."

"Until Ty?" she prompted gently.

He stared up at the ceiling, wondering if it was as obvious to everyone else as it must be to her. "He looks like Andros, doesn't he."

"A little," she admitted. "Is that why you went home with him?"

He was silent for a moment, considering the ceiling. Why wasn't there ever anything interesting to look at on ceilings? Walls were bad enough, but at least they weren't all the same boring color. You could put things on walls. Walls were good. Until annoying girlfriends walked through them without even noticing they were there.

"I don't know," he said finally. "I really don't know."

***

Cassie was gone. He knew that even before he got out of bed, so he took his time getting up. He was tired enough that he almost tried to sleep some more, but the nightmare that had woken him was too fresh. Sleep would do him no good if it returned.

It was almost breakfast time when he finally dragged himself out of bed, and he began to wonder what had happened to Cassie. She still wasn't used to the length of Elisia's days, and it made her sleep schedule almost as odd as his. Sometimes she woke up early, sometimes late, and he could never predict when he would come home and find her napping. Still, this was obviously one of the early days, and she was nowhere to be found.

There was a message flashing on the comm when Saryn emerged from the bedroom, but it wasn't from her. Instead it bore the logo of the Astro Rangers, and he almost didn't listen to it. He considered Cassie's friends his own, but the trouble they got into made him crazy. It was a miracle they didn't wind up dead more often than they already had.

Ashley's face greeted him when he let the recorded message play, and he couldn't help narrowing his eyes at her cheery, "Good morning!"

"Maybe for you," he grumbled, as though she could somehow hear him. "Would you like to know why my morning is less than good?"

"I just wanted to update you guys on the mysterious vision thing," Ashley's image went on, oblivious to his reaction.

"I thought not," he muttered. "Please, continue."

"Justin's been doing some experiments on Eltare, and he has the Robot Rangers and the Psychos helping him. Basically he's using the Power to open doors to this other dimension, and since we use the same Power as the Psychos and we used to use the same Power as the Robot Rangers, it's affecting us too. He calls it consciousness-swapping, but it turns out the doors he's opening may actually be moving."

Saryn frowned at the comm. "This Justin of yours is far to precocious for the universe's good. You are aware of that, I assume?"

"That's the only way he can explain what happened to Cassie, anyway," Ashley continued, and suddenly he found himself listening more closely. "She shouldn't have faded unless she was traveling herself, and Justin says consciousness swapping only happens when someone else travels, like Psycho Pink or Cassie's Robot Ranger. So he thinks maybe the doors between dimensions are attracted to the Astro Power..."

"You have no idea how little that surprises me," Saryn interrupted. "If something inexplicable and vaguely threatening is going to happen anywhere in the galaxies, naturally it would happen to the Astro Rangers. And is it an enemy causing this phenomenon?

"No," he said, answering his own question and not caring that he was talking over the rest of her explanation. "It's a Ranger. One of your own, no less, a former teammate who is even now interrupting your pretense of normalcy with dangerous and apparently unbounded curiosity."

"--but he says it shouldn't happen again," Ashley was saying, and Saryn sighed.

"A guarantee he cannot make, given that he doesn't know what caused it in the first place." He turned the comm off without waiting to hear the rest of her message. The lack of concern Cassie's teammates evinced in circumstances such as these never ceased to amaze him. They shrugged it off until it blew up in their faces, and then suddenly they were surprised.

He supposed he ought to tell Cassie her friend had called. And recently, too, unless she hadn't checked the comm when she got up. That would be out of character, so he could only assume Ashley had called after she left. He hadn't heard the comm chime, but he'd gotten so used to ignoring it that he might have been awake and just not noticed.

Saryn wandered out into the courtyard, noting idly that Nen's door was the only one still closed. The community center was wide open, as usual, and Kyril was perched in one of the windows. He raised a hand in welcome, his gaze flicking back toward the sky when Saryn nodded in return. The Blue Ranger's eyes were more sun-tolerant than anyone else on the team, and he had been known to stare at the horizon for hours at a time.

The atmosphere inside the community center was far less reflective. Saryn heard Jetson growl the moment he stepped through the door, but for once the dog wasn't barking at him. Instead, the big yellow canine was on his back, pinned to the ground by a skinny toddler who was yelling louder than he was growling.

The next moment Jetson had wriggled free and pounced on her back as she shrieked with laughter, and Saryn stepped carefully around them as he made his way toward the buffet counter. Cassie was seated there, an amused look on her face as she caught his eye. Mirine was behind her, ignoring both his entrance and the commotion on the floor while she rifled through the cupboards.

"Good morning," Saryn offered, leaning on the counter beside her. "I trust you slept well?"

"Couldn't." She made a face, but she didn't seem overly upset about it. "I must have slept too long yesterday afternoon. Which means I'll probably crash by lunchtime, but I guess it'll make the fair more interesting. What about you?"

He hesitated a moment too long, and Cassie gave him a knowing look. "What did you dream about? Not the kids again?"

"Saryn's dreaming about kids?" Mirine interrupted. She was obviously paying more attention than she pretended. "What, you two don't have enough to do? Now you're going to raise a family in your spare time?"

Saryn gave her a half-hearted glare. "If you feel the need to participate in the conversation, you could at least say good morning."

"Hello to you too," she retorted. "You're grumpy this morning."

"It's the nightmares," Cassie remarked, swinging her legs idly against the counter. "They make him grouchy. Breakfast usually does the trick."

"Here." Mirine pulled out a plate before he could protest. "Raine's leftovers from last night. She says you weren't around when she made them, so you'd better have some quick before they're gone. The sugar's good for you, anyway."

He frowned at his sister. "I am not grouchy, I don't need the sugar, and I had better things to do last night. And, in case it escaped your notice, sweet puffs do not constitute breakfast."

"Hungry!" a strident voice complained, and he glanced down to see Shei pressing her fists against the base of the counter. "Want to eat now!"

Saryn reached down and picked her up, setting her on the counter beside Cassie. "This," he announced to no one in particular, "is not my fault."

"It never is," Cassie noted, handing Shei a sweet puff. "Here you go, hon. Don't tell your mom, okay?"

"Tell mom," the girl agreed, grabbing for the dessert greedily. "Sweet puff!"

"So what about these dreams?" Cassie wanted to know, holding the plate out to him. "Are they serious? Are they symbolic, or precognitive, or what? Was it exactly the same dream both times, or were they different?"

"I don't know," he said with a sigh, taking one of the sweet puffs. "They weren't the same, but the feeling they inspired was identical."

She raised her eyebrows at him as she passed the plate back to Mirine. "And that was?"

"Fear," he said simply.

"More!" Shei demanded, reaching for his sweet puff. "Hungry!"

Jetson barked once, and Cassie took two more sweet puffs from Mirine. Breaking one of them in half, she frowned as she passed part of it to Jetson and gave the other to Shei. "Fear of something in particular, or just fear?"

He peeled the outer layer of the pastry free before putting it in his mouth, contemplating the question. "Fear for our children," he said at last. "I know it doesn't make any sense, but that's how they make me feel. I am afraid for children we do not have."

"More than one?" Mirine put in, leaning against the counter across from him. "Ambitious, aren't we." 

He gave her a dirty look, and she smirked back at him.

"They *make* you afraid," Cassie said slowly, ignoring the silent exchange. "You mean it's not just a feeling you have in the dream? Are you afraid now?"

"I feel obliged to point out," a new voice broke in, "that this is not a breakfast which Raine would approve of."

The three of them looked up guiltily to find Azmuth standing in the courtyard doorway. The Yellow Ranger took in the scene with an expression of amused tolerance, her lean frame propped against the wall and her arms folded across her chest. "She would, I think, comment on both the lack of nutrition and the informality of the presentation."

"Can we convinced you that it's not really breakfast?" Mirine suggested hopefully.

"That's right," Cassie chimed in. "It's more of a pre-breakfast snack. Saryn needed sugar, and we didn't want him to feel left out."

He glared at her, but her smile was so innocent that he couldn't find it in his heart to contradict her. Besides, Azmuth was already pushing away from the door and pacing across the room toward them, and she didn't look particularly upset. She even took one of the sweet puffs for herself, which delighted her daughter no end.

"More!" Shei exclaimed, reaching for the dessert.

Azmuth raised her eyebrows, her inquiring gaze going from one to another. "How many has she had?"

"One?" Mirine offered, though she didn't sound entirely certain.

"And a half," Cassie put in. "Not that many."

With a shrug, Azmuth handed her sweet puff to Shei and took another one for herself. "So long as she does not have more sugar than blood in her veins. What conversation did I interrupt? I assume it was not fear of Raine that caused you to fall silent so quickly."

"I think you underestimate her," Mirine muttered.

A smile played across Azmuth's normally serious expression. "I assure you, I do not. She is meditating this morning, however, and I do not expect her at breakfast. Thus we are safe from her parental sensibilities for the time."

"Too bad we're not safe from Saryn's," Cassie teased, and he sighed as Azmuth's curious look came to rest on him. He concentrated on his sweet puff, ignoring Cassie's explanation as best he could.

"So these dreams," Mirine began, the moment she had finished. "Are they just regular nightmares, or not? You said they scared you... how many times have you had them?"

"Twice." He reached for another sweet puff, and she gave him a look that said he was being difficult. Peeling off the outer layer of the puff again, he muttered, "Maybe three times." He felt Cassie glance sharply in his direction, but he didn't look up.

"And?" Mirine demanded.

"And what?" He tore off a corner of the sugared dough and tossed it to Jetson, who had been watching him intently throughout the whole process. "I don't know if they're regular nightmares or not, and I don't know what to do about them either way. What more can I tell you?"

Mirine's communicator went off at that moment, and she gave it a dismissive glance. The ID code must have caught her attention, though, for she frowned and straightened up from the counter. "I'll be right back," she said, pointing at Saryn as she retreated into the kitchen. "Don't think this is over."

"It never is," he answered, glancing away to avoid her glare. He heard Cassie chuckle, but it was the window that caught his attention. The one nearest the door was empty, and he was sure it hadn't been that way when he came in.

Jetson let out a growl. It wasn't the playful growl that the dog used when wrestling with Shei, nor was it a sound of real menace. It was more an acknowledgement than anything else, and Saryn knew what it meant before he even turned around.

"Hi, Kyril," Cassie said cheerfully, and sure enough, there was the Blue Ranger standing on the other side of the counter. His presence was more disconcerting than most, for he had no empathic echo. He was one of a very few people who could sneak up on Saryn without even trying.

"Morning," Kyril answered, greeting them all with a lazy smile. "Bet Raine wouldn't have saved the leftovers if she'd known what you were going to do with them."

"If you don't want any," Azmuth replied, leaving the sentence hanging. She pulled the plate out of his reach, taking another sweet puff for herself as she did so. "No, Shei," she added, when her daughter tried to imitate her. "Two for you, two for me. This is equitable."

"Between you and Saryn, that girl is going to have a better vocabulary than I do by the time she's five," Cassie remarked. She handed Kyril a sweet puff, and he grinned in thanks. "Do you guys write thesauruses in your spare time?"

"Thesauri," Saryn corrected automatically, and she rolled her eyes.

"Do you ever wonder," Kyril inquired, "how the Eltaran language disseminated so thoroughly throughout the universe without being corrupted beyond recognition by individual subcultures?"

Saryn put the rest of his sweet puff in his mouth, not bothering to answer. He recognized Kyril's tendency to muse aloud, and he didn't feel like thinking that much this early in the morning. He noticed with amusement that Cassie didn't want to either, but she had no qualms about admitting it.

"I can honestly say I've never wondered that," she told Kyril. "But I'll put it on my list of things to think about while I'm lying awake at night. Right after 'why is the sky white?' and 'how come only half of Elisia has winter?'"

Kyril gave her an odd look. "I could tell you that."

"That is unnecessary," Azmuth interrupted, exchanging sympathetic glances with Cassie. "Perhaps another time."

Saryn was making an effort not to smile when Mirine stuck her head out of the kitchen. "Saryn?" she said, tilting her head in obvious invitation. "Can I talk to you?"

He raised an eyebrow, but he circled the counter and followed her into the kitchen without a word. He was aware of Azmuth's gaze on them, coupled with Cassie's curiosity, but he had no sense of Kyril at all. Next to Shei's impatience and Jetson's idle content, the Blue Ranger couldn't have made less of an impression if he'd ceased to exist.

"Can you cancel your publicity op with the Defense this afternoon?" Mirine asked as soon as they were out of the main room. "There's a surveillance briefing I'd like you to be at instead."

"Done." He studied her expression, wondering what could have prompted such a question. She rarely made professional requests of him that didn't involve the rest of the team, and she had never asked him to choose between Ranger duty and Defense obligations. "Is something wrong?"

She hesitated, frowning. "I'm not sure," she said at last. "Maybe. Calijyt brought home two of their undercover agents this morning, and the extraction wasn't scheduled for another four days."

Saryn considered that. It was rare for an agent to be pulled without imminent threat, especially on the Border. On the other hand, it wasn't unheard of, and a briefing was standard in this situation. "You believe they were endangered with cause," he said, searching her gaze for confirmation.

Mirine sighed. "It's just a feeling, but yes, I do. Border scouts have been trading steady fire with velocifighters for days, and I don't think it's a coincidence that encounters are up."

"The Defense has been concerned by those same reports," he admitted, and she smiled briefly.

"I'm not surprised. I hope you can bring that perspective to this briefing."

"Where you lead," he promised, "I will follow."

She caught his eye again, an odd look flickering across her face. "You always have," she agreed soberly. "I've meant to thank you for it a hundred times. You were chosen to lead, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking a subordinate role recently."

"I can not tell you how much I appreciate the team you've built," he replied, smiling faintly. "And it is your team, not mine. I gave up the mantle of leadership a long time ago, and I am proud to see you wear it so well."

Instead of looking pleased, Mirine looked troubled, and a perceptible silence lingered before she spoke. "Saryn... if it happens that we need you to lead again--if the team needs you to take over--will you?"

"You will not need me," he said simply.

"But if we do." Mirine's gaze was intent, and suddenly he realized it wasn't herself that she doubted. It was him. "If you had to assume command of the Elisian Rangers in a battle situation, now--today--could you do it?"

She seemed to expect him to think about it, so he did. These Rangers were not the teammates he had led to their deaths five years ago, but in the heat of the moment, surrounded by their uniforms and with adrenaline distorting all sense of time, it was possible to forget. He knew that, and he knew too the emotional demands of battle, the choices that sometimes had to be made--and he made his.

"Yes," he said at last. "Yes, I could."

"Good," Mirine answered, an honest smile lighting her face. "That's all I wanted to hear."

***

"Still haven't met Steve," Carlos remarked, stopping to pick up a soda can someone had tossed outside the door. "Taj is all right, though."

"By 'all right', I assume you mean that he has not spoken to you?" Aura guessed. Her accent was all but lost in the comm distortion between galaxies, something Billy hadn't been able to compensate for in a device as unsophisticated as Carlos' cell phone.

He grinned as he yanked the dorm door open and headed for the main lounge. "He doesn't bother me and I don't bother him. What else could I ask for in a roommate?"

"So he is not curious about your frequent phone conversations with another planet?"

The TV was going in the first floor lounge and there were people sprawled across the cushioned furniture, watching with varying degrees of interest. At the other end of the lounge there were a couple of students chatting with open textbooks in front of them, and someone playing idly on the piano. Carlos headed over to the communal recycling bins, watching to make sure Voyager was a rerun before turning his attention back to Aura.

"I think phone conversations are the least of my worries," he told her, popping the lid of the bin open and tossing the can in. "If anything's going to bother him, it'll be the teleporting in the middle of the night. Not only is it loud, but it probably lights up the entire room."

"Perhaps we should do some research," she suggested, her tone a little too innocent to be what it seemed.

He narrowed his eyes, forgetting for a moment that she couldn't see him. "Do you have me on an open comm link?"

"Of course," Aura answered. "I am the only one in the control room, and it is the easiest way to communicate."

He wasn't immune to the stares that followed him out of the lounge, but he wasn't going to worry about them either. After three months of turning heads wherever he went, he found that he was getting used to it. There were days when it got to be too much and he would just stay on Aquitar until he felt normal again, but those days were becoming less and less frequent.

"In that case," he said, pushing the fire doors open on his way to the stairs, "I won't say anything inappropriate about teleporting in the dark with you. I think Billy has that whole room bugged."

"Of course he does," Aura replied with perfect equanimity. "The entire dome is under constant surveillance as a security measure. If, however, you are suggesting that any of the Rangers access those logs without due cause--"

"Which you all do, every time someone ticks you off," Carlos interrupted. "Especially Delphinius. Don't expect me to believe it was coincidence he knew exactly when that genealogy chart would be arriving."

"I find it interesting that you accuse him and not Cetaci," Aura remarked. She didn't contradict him, though. "The White Ranger is the only one who could be forgiven such subterfuge in the name of team relations."

"Which is why I don't blame her," he pointed out, stepping around someone at the top of the stairs and pausing by the water fountain. He leaned over to get a drink before he added, "I'd spy too if I was going out with someone as devious as Delphinius."

"You think I am less devious than Delphinius?" she demanded.

He grinned at her indignation. "All right--I'd spy if I was *living* with someone as devious as the two of you; how's that?"

"I accept your apology." There was a pause, and then she added, "Your opinion of Cetaci has changed significantly in recent months, has it not?"

Carlos tried the doorknob before punching his code into the lock, and to his surprise, it turned. Pushing the door open, he saw Taj sitting at his computer next to the windows. Steve was absent, as usual. Except for the laundry that had accumulated on the lofted bunk since he moved in, Carlos would have wondered whether his second roommate actually existed.

Grabbing the end of the bunk beds to swing himself up, he considered her question. "Not really," he said at last, flopping down on top of his bunk. "I think it's my opinion of Delphinius that's changed. I used to feel sorry for him, but he's a lot sneakier than I gave him credit for."

"He would probably appreciate that observation," she answered, and he could hear her smiling. Funny that facial expression came through the link when her accent was so muted.

"And I'm sure you'll tell him I said so, too," he commented. She and her teammates were as close as the Astro Rangers used to be, and he had learned not to say anything to her that he didn't want repeated.

"As I said," she replied smugly. "He will appreciate it."

"Yeah, whatever," he muttered. It didn't bother him anymore, but he still teased her. "Do you have a time for the synchronized flight tests yet?"

"And you think I read *your* mind." He could almost see her quizzical look. "I have just received clearance for upper atmospheric testing at eleven and a quarter. Billy and Delphinius will join us, and Cetaci has agreed to pilot the fourth fighter if you can not be present."

"Are you kidding?" He glanced down at his clock out of habit, but he could do the conversion in his head. It would be almost midnight here before the tests began, and they would probably last the rest of the night. "There's no way I'm missing this. Is Darren going to be there?"

"He will observe," Aura agreed. "Along with the majority of the fighter wing and the graduating pilot class. Some of the new ground-based defense force will also be present."

Carlos whistled. "What, you couldn't think of anyone else to invite?" he inquired. "Is this a test run, or an air show?"

"Perhaps both," she said, taking him more seriously than he'd intended. "We are recruiting as well as refitting, after all."

He opened his mouth to answer, then thought better of it. He wasn't much given to nostalgia, but there was something just a little bit sad about seeing military expansion on such a peaceful planet. Dark Spectre's war had left its mark on all of them.

***

Mechanical beings without the ability to reason or improvise, quantrons were an efficient if somewhat limited fighting force. Their loyalty was unquestionable, as they did only what they were programmed to do, and their robotic capability to withstand what humanoids could not was a tremendous advantage in the harsh environment of space. Still, as pilots against a sentient enemy they suffered from a distinct inability to learn.

Wave after wave of velocifighters washed through the Border and broke against the wall of the Calijyt Planetary Defense. The Border world's fighter wings were fast, ruthless, and committed, and their tenacity gave the Frontier patrol plenty of time to catch up. Trapped between the Calijyt PD and a well-armed patrol that had reinforcements on the way, the velocifighters stood no chance at all.

Kerone watched impassively as the little ships began to wink out, dozens of them flaring at a time before vanishing into nothingness. The simulation was not one the library had on file, naturally, but she had been able to modify some of the battle scenarios to suit her purposes. She needed something more sophisticated than the hostel terminals to run a program with so many variables.

"Whatcha doing?" Zhane's voice asked, interrupting her concentration once again. She had left him more than an hour ago, heading for the vid tanks when his research became more boring than she could tolerate without fidgeting. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't much more exciting on his end, and he didn't have the option of running off and letting the computer work without him.

"War games," she answered absently, watching the Frontier reinforcements arrive in time to scatter the remaining velocifighters and meld seamlessly into the patrol wing. "Just trying to stay on top of the news."

"News?" Zhane asked suspiciously. "What news?"

"The news that isn't news," she answered. "The fact that the Defense hasn't established any kind of base in this system, even though KO-35 is the most distant Border world in the League and patrols come through here every other day. What are they waiting for?"

"That's just bureaucracy for you," he opined. "They have to get seven different kinds of approval for expansion, not to mention authorization and contracts for building in Kerovan space. They've been working on it for months."

"So they say," Kerone agreed noncommittally. She reset the program, sending the velocifighters after Elisia this time. It was more vulnerable than Calijyt, and it had a history that the forces of evil could use to their advantage if it fell.

Zhane didn't answer, and she found herself lost in the new simulation. Unlike its neighbor, Elisia's Rangers swarmed out ahead of the fighter wings and engaged the velocifighters first, leading the planetary defense in much the same way Aquitar's Rangers did. The unified front strengthened the fighter wing but restricted the Rangers, and she narrowed her eyes as she considered the tradeoff involved.

Elisia, too, beat back the velocifighters with enviable ease, though when she compared numbers she found there was little appreciable difference in their losses. Interesting. Tactically speaking, she had expected Elisia to suffer fewer losses up until the threshold of defeat, which should have been reached faster than that of Calijyt's independent Rangers. She ran the simulation again, this time with more velocifighters.

The comm chimed, but since it wasn't Zhane she ignored it. Her login code enabled other network users to trace her anywhere on the planet, and contacts were automatically routed to her location. That didn't mean she had any obligation to acknowledge them.

"Astrea?" Zhane's voice intruded a few minutes later, and she lifted her head instantly. He sounded odd. Something had happened. She didn't know what it was, but she knew that tone of voice.

"What's wrong?" she asked, glancing over at the screen linked to his computer camera. "Did you find something?"

"No. At least, not in the records," he amended. His expression was as strange as his tone. "Andros just sent us a message."

She frowned. "That was him? I didn't bother to check."

"It's wasn't live." Zhane was silent a moment, and just when she was about to ask he added, "You should listen to it. I can't--I don't know what to think about it."

"Did he send the same thing to both of us?" she asked, reaching for the comm. Her login prompt appeared beneath Zhane's video feed, and she entered her password again. The message source and time appeared and froze while she waited for Zhane's answer.

He only nodded, his expression unreadable.

She halted the battle sim where Elisia was once again decimating the velocifighters and turned her full attention to the comm. Andros' image appeared in place of Zhane, and she blinked in surprise. He was wearing a tawny vest over an undyed tunic, and she knew with a sudden sinking sensation what he was going to say even before he opened his mouth. He hadn't worn anything but red for longer than she could remember.

"Hello, Zhane. Hi Kerone. I'm sending this to both of you because I owe you both the same apology. I know I haven't been a very good friend recently, and I'm sorry it happened without me even noticing. Somehow I got so caught up in what I thought I should be that I forgot what's really important, and that's you.

"You never forgot," Andros continued, and she found herself hearing his message twice. Once aloud, the way he had sent it, and then again in her head as she tried to imagine the way it sounded to Zhane. "You stood by me through everything, and I want you to know that means more to me than anything else. You reminded me... well, you made me remember what's worth fighting for."

Zhane had told him to choose his battles. She wished suddenly that she had been there to overhear that conversation. Were they closer behind closed doors, or did they joke and fight just as stridently as they did in front of her? For the first time, she wondered if she had taken her brother and his best friend for granted all these months.

"I turned my morpher over to the Council," Andros was saying, and her eyes widened involuntarily. For all that she had been expecting that, the words that had seemed so innocuous this afternoon were more alarming after the fact. "I think they were still kind of shocked when I left, but they'll be looking for a new Red Ranger soon. I thought you guys should know before--I thought you should know first.

"I'll be at the hostel tonight," he added. "Zhane, I'm sorry for the things I've said lately, and I hope you'll let me apologize in person. I'll do anything to make it up to you, and I mean that. When I said being your best friend was more important than being a Ranger... it's--it's so much more important that I don't even know how to tell you. I'm sorry I was so rude this afternoon."

Andros paused for a moment, frustration flickering in his eyes. It was clear to her that he wasn't sure exactly what he was apologizing for, and she hoped it wasn't as obvious to Zhane. Her brother was trying so hard... she had never seen him quite so earnest. But then, she'd never seen Zhane walk out on him like that either.

"Kerone--" There was a wry smile on Andros' face now, hiding his uncertainty. "I won't promise to do anything for you, but only because you're a sorceress and I know your sense of humor. So I'll settle for saying I'm sorry, and I hope you believe me because it's true."

She nodded once, glad he couldn't see her smile as he signed off. Funny that he would be more confident of where he stood with her than with Zhane--should she read anything into that? What about his offer to do "anything" to make it up to his best friend? She'd give a great deal to know what had gone through Zhane's mind when he heard that.

She began reprogramming the battle sim, waiting for Zhane to realize she'd had plenty of time to listen to Andros' message and reopen their private comm link. The vid tank was perfectly capable of initiating the signal, but she found herself in the same situation Zhane had been moments before. She had no more idea what to say than he had.

She did know that she hadn't thought Andros would truly resign without them. When she agreed to accompany Zhane to the library, she had assumed her brother would put his plans on hold until he could talk them into participating. Clearly, he was more serious than she had expected, and for some reason his actions troubled her now in a way they had not when they were just words.

"Weird, huh?" Zhane didn't bother with preamble as the link flared to life again.

She frowned, inputting the final variables before answering. "Weird," she said, as velocifighters flooded into the Kerovan system, "isn't quite the word I would have picked. Maybe... surreal."

"Same thing," Zhane said dismissively. "Who'd have thought he'd actually go through with it? Andros giving up his morpher is like... like--"

"Astronema turning good?" she suggested, watching the Kerovan PD intercept the velocifighters at the asteroid belt. Only two zords flanked them as they engaged the enemy.

She heard Zhane laugh, and she smiled to herself. That was a sound she hadn't heard often enough lately. Glancing up at the comm screen, she was reassured to see the strange look gone from his face and a grin in its place. He could be teased again, so the initial shock of Andros' message must have worn off.

"Yeah, about as weird as that," Zhane agreed. "Are you still running those games?"

She glanced away from the screen in time to see velocifighters breaking through the planetary defense and being chased down by zords. She frowned, surprised the fighter wings had been overcome so quickly. The zords couldn't pick up their slack, but they were being expected to even as the PD fell back. "Did you and Andros fight with the planetary wings?" she asked abruptly.

"I'll take that as a yes." Zhane sounded more amused by her preoccupation than anything. "No, we didn't--neither of us were trained for that sort of thing back then."

She halted the simulation before it could reach its inevitable conclusion, reprogramming it to take independent maneuvering into account. Naturally, she and Zhane would fight differently than Zhane and Andros, but it was the best she could do with just a computer program. No one could recreate reality.

"Blown up any important planets yet?" Zhane inquired after a moment of silence.

"Not yet," she answered absently, watching the simulation reset itself. "I'm still working on it."

"Take a break," he told her, and she looked up in surprise.

"Why?"

"I need to ask you something." He looked serious all of a sudden, and she studied him as best she could over the comm link. Possibilities flitted through her mind, but the chime of the comm interrupted before she could prompt him.

Zhane glanced away, and she saw him frown. "The Council," he said, eyes scanning something she couldn't see. "Did you just get--they sent us a summons!" He broke off indignantly, staring at the screen.

She had to enter her password again to view the static text that had caught Zhane's attention. It was indeed a summons from the Kerovan Council, complete with formal address and a deadline. Confused, she let the message disappear and gave Zhane a questioning look. "What was that about?"

"It's probably about Andros." Zhane looked torn between laughter and outright anger. "I can't believe they did that! Since when do they summon Rangers?"

"Did they tell you why?" she asked. "All I got was where and when."

"That's all they sent me too, and if they think I'm going to show up they're sadly mistaken. You don't summon a Ranger! And you certainly don't do it without an explanation!"

Kerone just looked at him, not sure how to respond to that. He sounded almost like Ecliptor for a moment, objecting to some perceived slight on her behalf. She knew the Rangers were, in theory, autonomous, and their military might made them a force to be reckoned with whether it was an enemy or an ally doing the reckoning. But she didn't see why this warranted such outrage on his part. They had ignored the Council before, after all.

"You'd think Andros leaving would have shocked some sense into them by now," Zhane was muttering. "I'm not playing their game anymore. If they want to summon me, they can summon away. I'm not listening."

"I am," Kerone pointed out. "And I don't know what you're so upset about. It's not like you and Andros do what the Council wants anyway."

"But they still expect us to!" Zhane exclaimed. "Why? Why does a planetary government think it can order Rangers around? We're not bureaucrats; we're warriors! We're supposed to fight, not sit in on endless and totally pointless meetings!"

With that, she realized what was fueling his anger. She'd thought he had taken Andros' message too calmly. He wasn't calm at all; he was furious inside and it was leaking out despite his best efforts. Zhane, ever the fun-loving and carefree clown, had no way to contain negative emotions when his almost preternatural perspective failed him. The Council was a convenient target, but it was Andros he was upset with. 

Andros had made them attend those meetings. Andros had let the Council dictate their actions. Andros had left them to force a vote amongst themselves when it came down to the wire, and now, when things were spiraling out of control, Andros had quit. 

She frowned at the miniature velocifighters in front of her, finally understanding what this looked like to Zhane: apology or no, Andros had abandoned them again. Andros had abandoned him again. _But that's not what he meant!_ Her mind protested, and she couldn't let the revelation pass without trying to impart some of it to Zhane.

"He did it for you," she said, looking back at the comm. "He wasn't trying to abandon you--he gave up his morpher because of you."

"Well, you could have fooled me!" Zhane shot back, confirming her suspicions. "He didn't even tell me what was going on!"

"I don't think he knew," she told him. "I think he decided on the way back from Earth. This afternoon was the first I heard about it."

Mentioning Earth had been a mistake. Zhane's eyes narrowed, and belatedly it occurred to her that the only thing taking more of Andros' time than the Council these last few days had been Ashley's home planet. "So he doesn't consult the rest of the team at all anymore? The fact that we could wind up with a new leader isn't important enough to discuss?"

"He said he was taking your advice," she said quietly. She knew it might not be the right thing to say, but she didn't know what else to tell him. "He said you told him to stop fighting the little battles and concentrate on the bigger ones, so that's what he was going to do. He said he knew you were tired of fighting the Council, and he wanted to make it so none of us had to anymore."

Zhane was staring at her. "He told you all of that and all he said to me is 'let's resign'? No offense, but since when do I rate lower on the 'pour your heart out' list than you?"

"I was there," she offered awkwardly, more uncomfortable with the way his words echoed her own than with his bluntness. She found herself searching for a defense to the argument she herself had made. "He just--"

"You were *there*!" Zhane didn't even wait for her to finish, and she bit her lip. Definitely not the right thing to say. "I was gone for one lousy night, and suddenly it's my fault that Andros doesn't talk to me? It's my fault that he gave up his morpher?"

He made a visible effort to contain himself, but his gaze burned into hers even through the comm screen. "Why do I bother?" he demanded. "Tell me that, Astrea! Why the hell do I bother?"

The answer to that was glaringly obvious now that she knew what to look for, and she wondered that she had never seen it before. "Because you love him," she said softly.

Zhane snorted, picking something up and stuffing it into his backpack as she watched. "Yeah, and a lot of good it does. I have to get out of here," he said, closing the bag and slipping it over his shoulder. "I'm taking Ty on a tour of Keyota tonight. Want to come with?"

It was only a token offer, but it filled her with guilty relief. No matter how angry he was at Andros, he wasn't upset with her. She was surprised by how much that meant to her, and she smiled at the screen. "Thanks, but no. I'm going to try to get somewhere with the sims."

"Yeah, well, remember to put the Border back together when you're done with it," he cracked, offering a half-hearted smirk in return. "We need some of those planets, you know."

"I'll try," she said solemnly. "Tell Ty to treat you right or I'll turn him into a frog."

He actually chuckled at that, shaking his head in mock reproach. "I'm sure that's just what he needs, the former princess of evil stalking him. That will help him sleep at night." 

There was a pause, and then Zhane added more seriously, "Thanks for caring."

"You know I do," she replied softly.

A smile brightened his face, and some of his usual cheer slipped back into his expression. "Have a good night, Astrea."

"Same to you," she said, blowing him a kiss. He made a grabbing motion with his right hand, touching his fingers to his lips with a wink. She laughed, watching his image fade from the screen as he stood up to leave.

She did turn back to the sim then, and the mess that had once been a decent representation of the Kerovan system confronted her. The motion had stopped once the program ran its course, but the aftermath of the battle was all too clear. The Kerovan PD was nonexistent, both zords were gone, and the colony itself had been completely overrun.

Kerone frowned, considering the widespread devastation laid out before her. "This can't be good," she murmured to no one in particular.

_fin_


	10. Preference

__

Disclaimer: Psylocke! What? I have no idea what you're talking about. Marvel owns the X-Men; Kerone's knife is just a case of convergent evolution. SOTPR. I went cruising for rainbows and I found a furry pegasus! No, I've never heard of reality.

****

Preference  
by Starhawk

Years ago, Cassie had complained to her best friend and housemate that she never got any phone calls. Ashley had sympathized, telling her it was only a matter of time before she made friends at her new school--friends that didn't wear communicators on their wrists. It had been comforting and annoying at the same time, coming as it did from a popular cheerleader, but Ashley had been right.

Still, she could remember a time when no one called her. Now, staring at the constantly blinking comm screen, it seemed like there was no one who didn't.

She had come home early hoping to sleep the afternoon away, and she had found messages waiting from both Nen and Kerone. The latter wasn't technically to her: Kerone had called looking for Saryn, but it would be rude to ignore her nonetheless. The former was a request from Nen for both Cassie and Saryn to stop by whenever they got home, though he didn't say why.

With a sigh, Cassie sat down in front of the comm screen and had the network trace Kerone's signal. She would just say hello, tell Kerone that Saryn wouldn't be back until later, and then go see what Nen wanted. Barring unforeseen emergencies and undue socialization, she would still have plenty of time for a nap before dinner.

__

Undue socialization, she thought, amused in spite of herself. _I'm starting to sound like Saryn._

It didn't take long for the network to initiate a link; one of the benefits of Ranger access was that she had priority over normal comm traffic. The Astro Ranger logo flashed across her screen, and to her surprise Kerone answered almost immediately. She wasn't sure what time it was on KO-35, but she hadn't really expected the other girl to be in her room.

"Hi, Cassie." Andros' sister greeted her with a sort of curious equanimity, but she supposed Kerone had been expecting Saryn. "How are you?"

"Tired," Cassie admitted. "I came back for a nap, but I saw your message and thought I'd say hi. How are things with you?"

"Strange," Kerone said fervently, surprising Cassie again. Kerone was nothing if not honest, which occasionally struck Cassie as an unusual trait for the former princess of evil, but she was quicker to comment on other people's circumstances than her own. In that, she and Saryn were a lot alike.

"I'm worried about Zhane," she added, unaware of Cassie's musing. "I was calling to see if Saryn had any cryptic insight to share that would make me feel better."

Cassie couldn't help smiling at that. "He may not be much help when it comes to Zhane," she warned. "You know they're only friends when they're on different planets."

Kerone shrugged. "Mostly I just wanted to complain, so it doesn't really matter." 

"What's wrong?" Cassie asked, frowning a little. "Is everyone all right?"

"No," Kerone said bluntly. "Zhane and Andros are tearing each other apart, and I'm stuck in the middle of an argument that Andros doesn't even know they're having. It's really frustrating."

"Whoa, back up--what?" Cassie stared at her. "Zhane and Andros are fighting? Over what?"

For the first time, Kerone hesitated. "Bad communication, I guess," she said at last. "Did you hear that Andros gave up his morpher?"

Cassie's eyes widened. "What? To who?"

Kerone shook her head. "No one. He handed it over to the Council. He said he was tired of putting them first, and he needed to concentrate on his friends instead. But Zhane thinks Andros ditched us because he can't control things anymore."

"Control things? You mean the Council?" Cassie couldn't help feeling taken aback. Zhane gave complete strangers the benefit of the doubt--he had been the first one to trust Astronema, after all--so it was hard to believe that he would think the worst of his best friend.

"The Council, the Astro Rangers, Zhane... I don't know. He's probably more upset that Andros didn't talk to him about it than he is that Andros did it in the first place."

"Andros didn't tell you first?" The more she thought about that, the less it surprised her. Andros was nothing if not volatile. "Did you say he doesn't know Zhane's mad?" she added, frowning. "How could he not? Saryn says Zhane gets mean when he's angry."

Kerone gave her an odd look. "So this isn't unusual? I've never seen him angry before."

"*What* isn't unusual?" Cassie demanded, a little frustrated at having to repeat everything the other girl said. "Kerone, what's going on?"

There was another pause. The look on Kerone's face was troubled, and suddenly Cassie missed the days when she could just walk down the hall and shake her friends until they told her what was wrong. Not that she had ever really done that, but then, she hadn't had to. There had been a time when they were close enough that she hadn't had to ask. Now she had to intercept other people's comm transmissions just to find out something was going on.

"It's mostly Zhane," Kerone said at last. "He's--he's trying to hurt Andros. Not physically hurt him," she said hastily, seeing Cassie's expression. "Just... I think he's trying to get back at him for--for being distracted."

Cassie frowned, reminding herself not to echo Kerone yet again. "That doesn't sound like Zhane. He doesn't hold a grudge against anyone, let alone Andros."

"Even Zhane has limits," Kerone said with a sigh. "And Andros has been more self-centered than usual lately. If it doesn't have a Ranger code on it, he doesn't even see it."

"Andros has always been sort of single-minded," Cassie pointed out. "It's not like that's anything new. What's Zhane doing that makes you so worried?"

Kerone looked away from the comm screen. "Come in," she said, responding to something the comm hadn't picked up. Her expression was wary, and when her visitor entered Cassie's field of view she knew why. It was Andros.

"We were just talking about you," Kerone told him, with her usual lack of concern for what was polite. "What have you done now?"

Andros gave her the Look, and Cassie hid a smile. Some things didn't change.

"I was looking for Zhane," he said, choosing to ignore her question. "I haven't seen him since this afternoon, and he's not in our room. I thought maybe he was with you."

"He's not." Kerone was on the receiving end of the Look again, and Cassie wondered if the expression seemed a little more exasperated than usual.

"I can see that," Andros informed her when she didn't elaborate. "Any idea where he might have gone?"

Kerone shrugged, as though Zhane had told her but she hadn't been paying much attention at the time. "He said something about touring the city. I don't think he'll be back till late."

"It's late now," Andros objected. He glanced at the screen when Kerone didn't answer, seeming to notice it for the first time. "Hi, Cassie."

"Hey," she said, smiling at his distraction. He didn't smile back.

"Look," he was telling Kerone, "can you at least tell him I'm looking for him when he gets back? I don't care what time it is; I just want to talk to him."

"He doesn't report to me, Andros." Something in his demeanor must have made her relent, for she added, "I'll tell him if I see him, okay?"

He nodded, but he didn't look very happy about it. He disappeared without another word to either of them, and a moment later Kerone looked back at the screen. "See?" she demanded. "He's been like that all evening!"

"That's just Andros," Cassie insisted. "He likes having something to obsess over. If it wasn't Zhane it would be Ashley, or you, or the Council. He has a one-track mind and he doesn't like to wait, that's all."

"That's not what I mean." Kerone looked frustrated at her inability to explain. "Since when does he have to ask where Zhane is? Have you ever known *either* of them to do that? Even when they're not together, they just know. Or they find out telepathically."

"That's true," Cassie admitted. "They do have that telepathic thing going for them. I wonder why Andros didn't try that."

"I think Zhane's blocking him." Kerone leaned forward, as though she was on the verge of making Cassie see something that still evaded her. "I really think he's avoiding Andros, and Andros doesn't know what to do about it."

"You said he was out touring the city?" Cassie asked, frowning a little. "That's not so strange, is it? Or is it? I mean, you've been there for months."

"It's strange," Kerone replied immediately. "Well, not that he's touring, because he's doing that with a friend from Chessa Brook. But it's strange that he's out with someone other than Andros for the second night in a row, and he didn't even tell him where he was going."

Cassie hesitated, her confusion dissipating a little. Kerone had known Zhane when he first woke up from hypersleep, but back then she had been the non-Ranger friend he could go to when the others were too absorbed in each other to socialize. Now he had found someone else to fill that role, and Kerone probably didn't even realize how lonely a small team could be for someone like Zhane.

"Zhane's not like you and Andros," Cassie pointed out, wondering how to make her see without sounding rude. "He doesn't like to be alone. He needs people. He likes people--he likes crowds, the same way Andros hates them. 

"He's like Ashley," she said, the connection suddenly clicking in her mind. She got along with Zhane so well partly because he reminded her of her best friend. "They both love us, but we're not enough by ourselves. If they don't have friends outside the team they're going to be lonely, no matter how much time the rest of us spend together."

Kerone was very still, an odd look on her face. She didn't say anything for a long moment. It was as though she was listening to some internal monologue that had no outward manifestation except intense concentration, and Cassie wished she could overhear some of it.

"That's an interesting comparison," the other girl said at last. "I hadn't thought of it that way."

She lapsed into silence again, and this time Cassie interrupted. "It doesn't mean we're any less important to them," she offered. Without knowing exactly what was going through Kerone's mind, she couldn't know what to say, but she didn't want to say nothing. "Ashley's been my best friend for years, and I know she considers you her best friend now as much as me. When it comes to friends, 'best' doesn't mean 'only'."

Kerone studied her over the comm, considering that carefully as though she had said something entirely different. "Do you think Andros sees it that way?" she asked abruptly. "If Zhane were to have another best friend, would Andros mind?"

Cassie blinked, somewhat taken aback. "He has you, doesn't he?" Even as she said it, she realized that wasn't what Kerone meant. She wasn't talking about a girlfriend, she was talking about someone that could conceivably be everything that Andros was to Zhane. His own sister wasn't competition.

Even as she thought that, though, Kerone was nodding. "That's true," she said, almost to herself. "He doesn't mind me. Maybe..."

"Do you really think Andros would be jealous of Zhane's friends?" Cassie asked when she trailed off. "He's knows Zhane better than I do; it's not like he doesn't know how social he is. Zhane must have had a lot of other friends--before."

She hadn't meant that to come out quite so awkwardly, but Kerone just shook her head. "I'm not sure he did," she said, obviously understanding what Cassie meant. "Not after he got his morpher, anyway. They were younger then, and the colony was in complete chaos. I think they depended on each other because there wasn't anyone else."

"But Andros has other friends now," Cassie argued. "He can't expect Zhane not to."

Kerone didn't answer, but there was something in her expression--

All of a sudden it was like she had put a magnifying glass to the situation. _"I think he's trying to get back at Andros for being distracted..."_ It wasn't Andros that was jealous at all; it was Zhane. Zhane was angry with Andros for not being the same friend he'd had all those years ago, and he was trying to replace that friend with someone else. And if Andros' earlier distress was anything to go by, he was only now starting to notice.

"Why now?" Cassie asked out loud, and Kerone gave her an odd look. "You said Zhane was trying to hurt Andros," she clarified. "If he's upset about being left out, why now and not before?"

"Critical mass?" The words were flippant, but there was a wary note to Kerone's voice that Cassie didn't understand. "It takes a lot to make Zhane mad, but this has been going on for a while. Maybe he just got sick of it."

"Maybe," Cassie agreed slowly. "Or maybe when Ashley left he thought he'd get Andros to himself again."

Kerone's eyes widened, though Cassie wasn't sure what she had said to startle the other girl. "You knew?" she blurted out.

Her reaction confirmed Cassie's suspicion: there was something going on that Kerone wasn't telling her. "That Zhane was jealous of Ashley?" she guessed. She watched the other girl closely, trying to figure out what it could be. "I guess it should have been obvious."

"Yeah," Kerone agreed after a moment. "I guess."

That wasn't it; there was something more to this. Kerone had only recently seen it, too, or she wouldn't have been so surprised when she thought Cassie had figured it out. "Does it bother you?" she asked, looking for a way to keep Kerone talking without revealing her own ignorance.

Kerone gave her a look of neutral curiosity. "What do you mean?"

Either she had said something wrong, or Kerone was no longer sure she knew. This was usually Saryn's area; she wasn't as good at coaxing things out of people. "That Zhane's so..." She searched for the right word. "Attached to Andros. You said you didn't like being in the middle of their arguments."

Kerone sighed. "Are we playing word games?" she asked bluntly. "Because I hate that. Zhane told me something that I can't tell you, okay? And it makes me more worried about him and angrier with Andros at the same time. I'm not upset with Zhane at all."

"Okay," Cassie said carefully, then stopped. Just like that, it clicked. Zhane was jealous of Ashley. Zhane was avoiding Andros. Zhane was going out with someone other than Andros. He was... trying to make Andros jealous?

"Oh, god," she breathed, her eyes widening. If she hadn't already been sitting down, she would be now. "He loves him."

Kerone didn't answer, and Cassie just stared at her in disbelief as she remembered. She remembered Zhane sacrificing himself for Andros in the prisons of Dark Spectre's flagship. She remembered Zhane giving up his morpher for no other reason than because Andros did. She remembered Zhane dancing with Andros on graduation night... and she remembered him with his head in his hands the day before, slouched morosely at the table in Andros' absence.

"That's it, isn't it," she whispered, still watching Kerone. "Zhane's in love with his best friend."

Kerone looked uncomfortable, but still she said nothing. Her silence was damning enough, for if Cassie had been wrong she would have denied it immediately. She clearly felt that to speak would be a betrayal of confidence, though, and Cassie searched for something else to fill the silence.

"Does Andros know?" she asked at last, and then she could have kicked herself. "No... of course he wouldn't."

"I don't think Zhane wants anyone to know," Kerone said softly, not looking at the screen. "He didn't even tell me; I guessed, like you did."

"I won't say anything," Cassie assured her, then winced. "Except--Saryn will know, if he asks."

Kerone lifted her head, her mouth quirking in a smile. "Is it something that's likely to come up in idle conversation, then? Don't worry," she added, when Cassie smiled reluctantly. "I know. He probably would have figured it out from me anyway, the way you did. I don't know why I thought talking to him was a good idea."

"Are you okay?" Cassie asked, concerned. "How do you feel about--everything? Have you and Zhane talked about it, or are you on the avoidance list now, too?"

"I don't think so," Kerone said with a sigh. "We hung out all afternoon, even after I dragged it out of him. I just can't help being angry with Andros for not seeing it. He has no idea how much he's hurting Zhane. He doesn't even mean to, and that almost makes it worse."

"What about you?" Cassie persisted. "How do you feel about all of this? Are you and Zhane... okay? I mean--"

"I'm not going to break up with him, if that's what you're asking," Kerone interrupted. "You just got finished telling me how much Zhane needs people, and I'm certainly not the commitment type. Neither of us is exactly suited to an exclusive relationship anyway."

"Sounds like you talked about it," Cassie ventured, wondering how she could be so calm about it. If Saryn... no. She didn't really want to think about it.

Kerone actually shrugged. "It's come up before. What I don't like is having to interpret for them. Zhane's gotten to the point where he can't see anything Andros says or does objectively, and Andros... well, he's just Andros."

"He's not exactly Mr. Interpersonal Relations," Cassie suggested wryly, and Kerone nodded. "Maybe this is for the best, then. Zhane avoiding him, I mean. Maybe they just need some time apart."

Kerone wrinkled her nose, a habit she must have picked up from Ashley. "I'm not sure that's going to help. Andros is just going to end up stalking him until he finds out who Zhane's hanging out with, and then he'll throw a fit. Or move back to Earth. Maybe both. Neither one's very productive."

"Productive in terms of what?" Cassie pointed out. "Maybe if Andros left, Zhane could work things out. Or--" She stopped when she realized the usual suggestion in this case wouldn't be very polite.

"Find someone else?" Kerone didn't hesitate to finish her sentence. "He already has. That's part of the problem."

Cassie frowned, not understanding. "I thought you said it didn't bother you. Not that I'd blame you," she added hastily, but Kerone was already shaking her head.

"Not me," she said. "He's been seeing my friend's brother. That's who he's with tonight."

Cassie stared at her, open-mouthed. "Who--_what?_" Andros was one thing, but this... "Zhane's seeing another guy?"

"His name's Ty. Zhane says he's really nice." Kerone made another face. "But guess who he looks like."

"Wait a minute," Cassie objected, wishing she could rewind this conversation and listen to it from the beginning--in context this time. She had definitely missed some things the first time through. "Zhane, who kisses girls' hands and holds doors and stands up for us at the table... you're saying Mr. Chivalrous Flirt himself is gay?"

"Is that derogatory slang on your planet?" Kerone asked, frowning a little. "I've heard it before, but I don't know what it means."

"No, it's--" Cassie's mind was way ahead of her mouth. It wasn't that homosexuality bothered her; it just startled her in someone like Zhane. Or maybe, in all fairness, it surprised her because he was her friend and she had always taken for granted the fact that he was straight. But he couldn't be gay, not with the way he and Kerone kissed...

"It just means someone who prefers their own gender," she said, when she realized Kerone was still waiting for her to explain. "You know, sexually. 'Gay' usually means men, and lesbians are women who prefer women."

Kerone's frown evaporated, and she looked more surprised than anything. "You have words for that? Do you have one for the opposite--women who prefer men, and men who prefer women?"

"Straight," Cassie answered, wondering how Kerone had managed to miss that part of the vernacular. She supposed that of all of them, Kerone had spent the least amount of time on Earth, but still--

"That's just slang, though," she added belatedly. "Homosexual is a better word for gays and lesbians, and straight people are considered heterosexual. You probably use those words instead."

Kerone just shook her head. "No, I've never heard them before. Do you consider people who prefer one or the other an aberration, then? Unusual? You seem very... straight? Is that the right word? I would have said you preferred men."

Cassie blinked. "I do. Don't you?"

"I prefer Zhane," she said simply. "I'm kind of prejudiced toward humans, too, but I think that's just because I didn't meet many aliens until after I was kidnapped."

Cassie stared at her in surprise. It hadn't occurred to her that species would matter in a relationship. "So how do you feel about Saryn?" she asked before she thought. 

Kerone gave her an amused look, and Cassie blushed as she realized how strange that sounded. "I didn't mean--" she began awkwardly, but Kerone just laughed.

"I'll tell you, if you really want to know," she said, smiling. "But you have to promise not to hold it against me."

"I promise," Cassie said instantly, though she felt a flicker of nervousness. Now she was too curious to back out.

"He's pretty," Kerone admitted. "And there were a couple of times when I might have kissed him, if things had been different. But he's still an alien, and I don't know if I'll ever really get over that. I associated aliens with evil for too long to just shrug it off."

Cassie nodded, more relieved than she had any right to be. It wasn't as though Kerone would ever hurt her, it was just... easy to be defensive. She'd like to blame that on Saryn's influence, too, but she knew she was jealous enough in her own right.

"You promised not to hold it against me," Kerone reminded her, a gently teasing note in her voice. "What are you thinking?"

Cassie laughed, startled out of her reflection. "It's funny," she said, studying her friend over the comm. "It never occurred to me that Saryn being alien made a difference, but it never occurred to you that Zhane's new 'friend' being a guy mattered either. I guess we all have our biases."

"Are you considered unusual on Earth?" Kerone asked curiously. "Because you prefer one gender over the other?"

"No," Cassie said, realizing belatedly that she hadn't wondered about Zhane until Kerone mentioned her friend's brother. When confronted with the possibility of Zhane and Andros, she had worried only about the complications between two friends, not to mention Ashley. _And that's a pretty big "only",_ she thought wryly. 

"No," she repeated, smiling in apology for her distraction. "Heterosexuality is the norm in Angel Grove, so it's people who are bi or gay who are considered unusual."

"'Bi'?" Kerone repeated.

"Bisexual," Cassie offered. "No preference. Kind of like you, I guess."

Kerone sighed in obvious exasperation. "You have separate words for all of those things? How do you keep them straight?"

Cassie resisted the temptation to giggle at her unintentional pun. "It's just because we grew up with it, I guess," she said, trying to suppress a smile. "Most of Earth doesn't have much contact with aliens, so that kind of prejudice doesn't occur to us." 

Kerone nodded slowly, but she still looked puzzled. "Well," she said at last, "you managed to distract me, anyway. Thanks," she said with a rueful grin.

"You're welcome," Cassie said automatically, but her concern returned as soon as she remembered what had prompted their conversation. "Is there anything I can do, really? I feel bad about you having to handle this all by yourself."

"I don't have to." Kerone's smile turned more sincere. "Thanks for listening, Cassie. I mean it."

"Anytime," she promised. This time she could smile back. "Keep me updated."

Kerone rolled her eyes at that. "I'm going to bed now," she said firmly. "If they want to act out any more melodrama today, they can do it without me. I'll talk to you later."

"Sleep well," Cassie said, stifling a giggle.

"You too."

As the screen went blank, Cassie reflected that the wish was probably a futile one. She was tired, yes, but her mind was now struggling to wrap itself around the Zhane-Andros dilemma and she wasn't sure it would stop long enough to let her fall asleep. Besides, she still had to go see Nen... 

She hoped he didn't have anywhere near the bombshell that Kerone had unwittingly dropped, or she would have to write off rest in any form until tonight.

***

The common room was dark and quiet and for a moment he wasn't sure how he had gotten there. As soon as he sat up, though, the lights blazed to life and he flinched back instinctively. His eyes teared in the brightness and he blinked hard, trying to take in everything as quickly as he could.

The room was empty... he must have fallen asleep down here. He didn't know what time it was, but there was one thing he was sure of. Zhane would have woken him up when he came in, if not accidentally with the noise of the front door, then on purpose so that Andros didn't spend the night in the common room. He hadn't been woken up, thus Zhane hadn't come back.

*Kerone!* He should find out what time it was. She had said Zhane would be out late, but he didn't feel tired enough for it to be much before dawn now. Something must have happened to him.

There was a noticeable hesitation, and when her answer finally came back it was curt and to the point. *What.* Her tone was more threatening than curious, and he realized belatedly that he had probably woken her up too. She didn't say anything else, but he was too worried to apologize.

*Zhane isn't back yet,* he said, running a hand through his hair in an unconscious imitation of his best friend. *Did he say anything about where he was going? Is there any way to track him down? He wasn't going anywhere dangerous, was he?*

*He's here, Andros; he's fine.* She sounded only slightly more civil than she had before. *Go back to sleep.*

He stared around him in confusion. Zhane had already come back? He would have had to walk right past the common room to reach the stairs, but Andros had heard nothing. And why hadn't Zhane stopped? It was dark, certainly, but he knew from experience that the light from the hallway was enough to illuminate the couches in the common room. Zhane couldn't have missed him.

He pushed himself to his feet, deliberately keeping his thoughts to himself. Kerone sounded irritated enough without him compounding the problem. When he forced himself to think, he admitted that she didn't have the answers he wanted anyway. But she did have Zhane, so that meant at least one thing was right with the world... he could corner the Silver Ranger in the morning.

The light in the hallway was dimmer than that of the common room, but it was enough to get him to the stairs. The stairs themselves were lit from both above and below, and he concentrated on the way they glowed faintly beneath his feet as he trudged up to the second floor. One foot, and then the other... it was a route he had followed innumerable times before, but rarely did he give it this much attention.

Unexpected motion made him look up as he reached the next floor. He had thought the hallway would be deserted this late at night. The hostel was home to people displaced by war and those waiting to rebuild, refugees, travelers, and the occasional visitor. Most hostel residents these days were long term, and Andros knew everyone on his floor by name if not by reputation.

The boy coming out of the bathroom as he crested the stairs wasn't anyone he'd met before. Andros nodded anyway, assuming he was someone else's guest, and the other boy returned his greeting just as calmly. He must have known in advance that there were Rangers staying here; it was rare that Andros encountered such indifference in a stranger.

Kerone's room was next to his, and Andros slowed involuntarily as he passed. He was sorely tempted to knock, just to see for himself that Zhane was safe and accounted for, but he knew his sister wouldn't thank him for waking her a second time. Zhane might not appreciate his concern either, what with the way the Silver Ranger had been behaving around him lately.

The boy he had passed earlier must have been more flustered than he let on, for he paused in front of Kerone's door while Andros watched and keyed the door open. It wasn't unheard of for visitors to get confused in the long, arcing hallways, but most people used the privacy locks for exactly that reason. Kerone must have forgotten to set hers, and Andros opened his mouth to say something when he caught sight of Zhane.

The Silver Ranger looked up at the sound of the door and a welcoming smile lit his face--not for Andros, but for the boy in the doorway. The other's presence was obviously no intrusion. Andros could only stare as the stranger joined his best friend inside and the door closed behind them.

He backed away without thinking, fumbling the code for his own door before he realized his hand was shaking. An adrenaline reaction, he noted distantly. He wondered if he had actually expected the stranger to pose a threat. Ranger reflexes were a strange thing sometimes. There was no predicting what the Power would react to.

The lights in his room didn't brighten automatically when he stepped inside, but he was too distracted to consider what that meant. When the door slid shut, cutting off the dim illumination from the hallway and leaving him blind in the darkness, he remembered that Ranger reflexes were no longer an excuse for his actions. He sank down on Zhane's bed, staring numbly at the blackness.

There was a silent hum like a static charge, and it would have alerted him had he been reacting normally. As it was, he didn't notice anything through the haze of confusion until something sharp crackled against his back. He stiffened, his mind crystallizing into one single perception: _threat._

"Dammit, Andros," he heard Kerone mutter, and the pressure on his back relaxed abruptly. "Don't startle me awake. I've told you over and over."

"What--" He swallowed, glancing carefully over his shoulder. An electric purple shimmer outlined the knife clenched in her fist, but the weapon dissolved even as he looked at it. Being a psychic manifestation didn't make it any less dangerous, of that he had no doubt. "What are you doing here?"

She yawned, shaking silver wisps of hair out of her eyes. At least, they were silver in the starlight; there was no telling what color they would be when he could see properly again. "Zhane and I switched rooms," she said, propping herself up on her elbows and blinking innocently at him. "So he'd have someplace to take Ty."

"Who's Ty?" Andros demanded. "Why didn't you tell me when he got back?"

"You were asleep," she said, stifling another yawn. "I told him you had been looking for him, though." She waited a beat, then added, "You're welcome."

He narrowed his eyes, not fooled by her casual air. Zhane would have woken him up if she had really told him. "Who is *Ty*?" he ground out.

Kerone squirmed out from underneath the blankets, drawing her knees to her chest as she sat up. "Friend of Zhane's," she answered at last. "They met at the hay party last night."

"Yesterday?" Andros repeated incredulously. "And he's still here? What's he doing spending the night?"

His sister shrugged. "It's hard to have sex when you're on different continents."

Andros gaped at her, broadsided by the reality his mind had been avoiding. It was no more pleasant head-on than it had been lurking in the shadows. "He's--he's sleeping with him?" he echoed, his voice cracking. "You... did you--break up?"

"No." Her tone was more impatient than anything else. "Why do people keep saying that?"

"But... Because he's cheating on you!" he burst out. "How can you still be together if he's sleeping with someone else!"

"He's not cheating on me." Now she sounded downright cross. "For him to cheat, he'd have to think I care who he sleeps with. If anything," Kerone added irritably, "he's cheating on you."

His stomach clenched and he stared at her in shock. "What?" he managed. He tried to make his voice louder than a whisper and failed miserably. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, you obviously care," she said, studying him frankly.

Andros swallowed hard, wondering how she could take this so calmly. "Because you're my sister," he muttered. Some of the strength was returning to his voice. "He shouldn't be sleeping around if he's going out with you."

He could have sworn she rolled her eyes. "Andros, we're in love. Love and sex aren't the same thing. And to be honest, if we want to have an open relationship then it's really none of your business."

"How can you say you're in love when he's sleeping with someone he just met?" Andros insisted angrily. "He's treating you like you're--like you're nothing!"

"No, *you're* treating me like I'm nothing." Her tone was even, but her eyes flashed violet in the dimness and he drew back in surprise. "You're treating me like I'm still a little girl you have to protect, who can't make her own decisions or understand the consequences! This isn't your relationship, Andros; it's ours!"

"It's not you I'm angry with," Andros protested, not sure what he had done to upset her. "Zhane's the one who's wrong; it's not your fault he's treating you so badly."

"Do you ever *listen*!" Kerone's eyes were glowing now, and he resisted the urge to back away. "You gave up any say you had in Zhane's love life a long time ago, Andros. And you certainly never had any in mine. So back off and let us figure this out on our own."

He stared at her, stung beyond words. He didn't know whether it hurt more that his little sister was telling him to mind his own business, or that she had for the first time completely excluded him from her and Zhane's relationship. Kerone had never been possessive, and she had certainly never tried to monopolize Zhane's attention. The Silver Ranger was allowed to be her boyfriend and Andros' best friend simultaneously, without ever having to choose one over the other.

Maybe that was why Ty didn't bother her. Maybe she had gotten used to sharing. But if it truly didn't bother her, then why did it bother him?

He sighed, his eyes sliding away from that luminous violet gaze. "I'm sorry," he muttered, staring down at the shadows on the floor. There was more than starlight coming through the windows, and he realized with a start that the sky outside had started to lighten. It was almost dawn.

Zhane had stayed out with Ty until dawn.

He caught himself frowning, and he forced his fists to relax. Kerone was right, it wasn't really any of his business. The Silver Ranger was an incurable flirt, and Andros had always known he wouldn't settle down. His relatively long-term relationship with Kerone continued to be a surprise, but if she was content than Andros had no right to get involved.

Or did he? He sighed again, still frowning. No matter his sister's protestations, he had trouble convincing himself that Zhane's actions weren't traitorous. And yet the idea that his best friend would ever intentionally hurt someone was laughable... what was he supposed to do with such a contradiction?

"I accept your apology," Kerone said primly, out of nowhere. She scrambled off of the bed as though eager to escape the silence, pausing in front of the door just before it would have detected her presence and opened automatically. "Try not to do anything drastic while I'm gone, all right?"

Her pajamas sparkled, straightening themselves out and unwrinkling under the magical light. She slipped through the door while he was still trying to gather his thoughts to answer, and he blinked. The door hadn't opened. She didn't usually teleport this early in the morning.

He was thinking about crawling into bed and making up for some of his lost sleep when the comm chimed. His best friend was sleeping with someone he'd never met, his sister wouldn't listen to a word he said, and on top of it all someone was calling him. The sun hadn't even risen yet and already it was the worst day he'd had since Ashley left.

The incoming link wasn't live, and he was tempted to let it lie. Something told him that it wasn't good news, and he'd already had too much shock on too little sleep. He wasn't sure how much more he could handle at this point.

Responsibility won out over reluctance, though, and he let the comm deliver its message. As soon as he saw the seal of the Frontier Defense, he knew he should have obeyed his instincts and gone back to bed. He should have known better than to think that giving up his morpher would change anything. Hadn't Kerone warned him? 

__

"Whether you resign or not, you'll always be a Ranger. Probably for the rest of your life..."

He was still staring at the screen when his sister returned. Her bare feet padded over to the closet, then paused. A moment later he felt her at his side, scanning the words over his shoulder. He almost smiled at her intuition, but he stayed silent until she finished reading.

"It's taken them longer to regroup than I expected," she said at last.

Andros looked up, catching her eye as she braced one arm against his workstation. "You saw this coming?"

She shrugged. "Dark Spectre wasn't the embodiment of the forces of evil. He was just their monarch. By destroying him we drove them back, but we didn't obliterate them."

"No," he agreed with a sigh. "Nothing ever does."

They were silent for a moment, and Andros contemplated the screen. For a while, he had allowed himself to forget that there were things in the universe worse than the Council. Now, too late, he realized that was what Zhane had been trying to tell him all along. Being a Ranger was about more than politics and power struggles.

"Kerone," he said suddenly. He wasn't the only one who was going to have to change. "You keep saying you're not a Ranger. Do you want to be?"

There was a noticeable hesitation. "What do you mean?" she asked warily.

He turned around to face her. "You commanded the Dark Fortress," he said, searching her expression. "What would it take, right now, to bring down KO-35?"

She gazed back at him, as though trying to decide how much of the truth he could take. "Not much," she said finally. "I could do it with a couple of wings of velocifighters."

He nodded, not surprised. He deliberately didn't glance at his wrist, for the absence of his morpher was all the more disturbing in light of Saryn's message. "It's time to change that," he told her. "Will you help me?"

***

Saryn contemplated the comm, as though he could see each of the recipients' reactions to their message. "The leaders of Border teams know as much as we do, now," he remarked aloud. He didn't know if it would be enough, but they had to do something.

"Which isn't much." The zords' comm channel rendered Mirine's voice clearly, and she sounded pensive. "What do we tell Elisia?"

"The truth, I suppose." He lifted his gaze to the simulated starlines on the cockpit's forward screen. "That quantrons are massing and velocifighter attacks are becoming more frequent. That we suspect the rise of a coordinating force within their ranks, and we must stand together now as we have in times past. It is why Ranger teams exist, after all."

He heard her sigh. "I was hoping for something less dramatic and maybe a little friendlier. How about, 'the bad guys are coming, but we'll protect you'?"

"I refuse to use the phrase 'bad guys' in front of an audience," he replied firmly. "If you wish such a statement made, you will do it yourself."

"Spoilsport," she teased. "It would sound better coming from you."

"You believe that precisely because it is not something I would say," he countered. "I fail to comprehend how you grew up with a colonial accent when both our parents were Eltaran."

"Easy," she said impishly. "I had friends. You spent way too much time reading."

"I was not as unsociable as that," he objected, reaching for the comm again. "I can recall several times when you were the one who had to be coaxed outside during winter celebrations or the spring festival. You had quite the aversion to large gatherings."

"You say that like I'm the strange one!" she exclaimed. "I still don't understand why you *chose* a profession that's all about intense emotion and huge groups of people. I think there must be something wrong with you."

He smiled slightly. "You are not the first to say so."

She muttered something he probably wasn't supposed to overhear, and his smile didn't fade as he began a private static message for Linnse and Tobin. "If you are through insulting me," he commented, "you should know that I plan to resign as a governing member of the Frontier Defense."

There was silence from the comm. This time he had truly startled her, and he felt some amount of satisfaction at the knowledge that it was still possible. He continued his message while he waited, choosing his words carefully as this would no doubt surprise them as much as it did Mirine. They knew he was less content than he had once been, but they three had founded the Defense together and it was hard to imagine it being run by anyone else.

"Well, I didn't see that one coming," she admitted at last. "Is this because of the surveillance briefing?"

"No," he said honestly. "But circumstances have given me an opportunity that I intend to take advantage of. An active Ranger can not serve offplanet in a time of war."

"We're not at war," Mirine countered. "We're on alert--or we will be soon--but that's the way it is on the Border. We didn't end martial law only to bring it back at the first sign of trouble."

"Agreed. Nonetheless, the possibility exists that fighting will resume before the year is out. I do not welcome the thought, but that is no reason not to be prepared."

He heard her sigh. "You taught me everything I know about paranoia, Saryn."

"You only say that to flatter me," he answered.

She laughed, and her tone was lighter when she asked, "So what's the real reason?"

He hesitated. Allowing the static message he was composing to lapse, he turned his full attention back to Mirine. It was hard to tell her the truth, but if there was anyone he could count on for support it should be his teammates. "I am overwhelmed," he said quietly. "I can not continue to function at this level on a daily basis."

She didn't answer, and he knew she was waiting for him to elaborate. "You said you did not understand why I chose this work," he reminded her. "I chose as I did because diplomacy intrigues me, but right now the Frontier Defense is too much. My allegiance is first to Cassie, then to you and the Rangers. The Defense is a consideration only after these obligations are satisfied, yet I find my priorities of late do not reflect this."

"I see," she said after a moment. She sounded thoughtful again, all trace of their earlier banter absent from her voice. "Saryn... your marriage is up to you, but I hope you don't feel like you're being forced to choose between the team and your job. We'll take you whenever we can get you--you know that, right?"

"I do," he assured her. "And I appreciate the allowances you have made." He knew he sounded a little rueful when he admitted, "You run a much looser team than I did, and it works as well if not better than mine. I will resign because I want to, not because I have been pressured into it."

"If that was supposed to make me feel better," she began. There was a brief pause, and she added, "Well, it worked. Are you going to set down at the compound?"

He glanced at the nav display, which was even now showing imminent system entry. "Yes," he decided. The comm registered the recognition code as they dropped out of hyperrush, and the zord's autoresponse function bounced it back. "Cassie implied that she might be home early today, so I will stop there before going on to the fair. Do you--"

He choked on the words, unable to stifle a cry as pain lanced through his midsection. He doubled over under the assault, gasping for breath as he struggled against the consuming fire inside his body. He was dimly aware of Mirine's sharp query, but he couldn't focus on anything with enough coherence to answer.

Fear washed over him then and his vision sparkled to black, dragging him under despite his best efforts.

"Saryn!" She was saying something, but all he could make out was his name. The roaring in his ears was starting to subside, and he was relieved to finally see something when he blinked his eyes. The blackout couldn't have lasted long, for he was still in his zord and on final approach to Elisia.

"Mirine," he muttered, staring at the comm as though he could will his hands to work it himself. "Call Nen. Tell him..." His breath caught, and his arms tightened across his stomach. "Find Cassie," he breathed, squeezing his eyes shut.

The last time this had happened, Cassie had nearly faded out of existence before collapsing in his arms. This time the pain was twice as intense and he wasn't there to catch her. He didn't even know if she was still here to fall.

Damn the Blue Turbo Ranger and his experiments. If anything happened to her, nothing in the universe would save Justin Stewart from his wrath.

_fin_


	11. Guardian

__

Disclaimer: Thanks to Alexandra for asking about Jenna, and to Luellon for the question that made my day: "Who needs to categorize love, anyway?" SOTPR, or maybe it's Disney now. I'm not really up on that sort of thing. Besides, "DOTPR"? It just doesn't work for me. 

****

Guardian  
by Starhawk

A breeze tumbled past, tickling her ankles and tugging her hair away from her face. The slanted hem of her skirt rippled in the warm air, and she got the distinct impression of sunlight on her bare skin. Even the breeze smelled faintly of warm sand, as though it was coming in off the desert, and it brought with it a perceptible whisper of rustling grass.

The only problem was that there was no grass in sight. There was also no sand, no desert, and definitely no sun. She was surrounded by a featureless white that was disorienting in its uniformity. There was something solid under her feet, but she knew that only because she wasn't falling.

"Where am I?" Cassie asked aloud. The question was natural enough, but it occurred to her suddenly that she expected someone to answer. When she thought about it, she didn't know who that someone should be, but she didn't feel alone.

She didn't feel much of anything, actually. This sort of situation probably qualified as alarming, but for some reason she wasn't worried. She didn't know where she was or what had brought her here, yet all she felt was a mild curiosity about her circumstances. She wondered if that in and of itself ought to worry her.

"You're at the junction of Reed and Firstroad."

Cassie turned, not surprised by the answer. It wasn't that she had expected that particular reply, she just wasn't surprised. "Near the old library," she surmised, scanning the vast white expanse. At least, she assumed it was vast. It was hard to judge distances when there was nothing to measure them against.

"Right in front of it, actually." The voice still came from behind her, and she wondered if turning again would do her any good. "Between the crowd and the spectacular wreckage, you're causing quite a scene."

Cassie turned full circle, but there was still no one there. "I go past the library almost every day," she told the disembodied voice. "This isn't it."

"No," the voice agreed. It was feminine and vaguely familiar, and she wondered if she should know it from somewhere. "But you did ask where you were."

"What happened?" Cassie wanted to know. It seemed like a logical follow-up question.

"You ran a yield at Firstroad and slammed into a cargohauler. I hope you didn't have any sentimental attachment to your hover."

She felt her first flicker of concern at those words. "Was anyone hurt?" A cargohauler wasn't going to suffer much damage no matter what hit it, but there could have been any number of passersby on the street at this time of day.

The reply was strangely comforting. "Just you."

__

"Raine had to stay late, so we thought we'd surprise her with dinner. She signed up for tonight, and you know she'll insist on doing it anyway unless we beat her to it."

Nen had already put Azmuth to work, so Cassie volunteered to make the trip into town while the two of them got things ready. None of them knew exactly how late "late" was, but Raine and Shei would need a ride home regardless. She would head over to the day care before evening traffic clogged the roads, and if they weren't ready to go she would stay and help.

There had been no warning, only the sudden blurring of her vision and the abrupt stabbing pain that seemed to ricochet through her. The street turned pitted and scarred while the buildings to either side crumbled, ruined shells in the midst of a settlement clearly devastated by war. Something exploded in her face--

"I blacked out while I was driving," she realized. "That's why I didn't yield. The cargohauler couldn't stop."

Someone clapped once, twice, three times. She turned slowly, feeling the presence more strongly this time and reluctant to confront it as she had not been before. She knew somehow that this time the sound would have form, and she was no longer sure she wanted to know who was talking to her.

An older girl with flyaway curls and sparkling eyes leaned back against the nothingness, the casual posture at odds with her curious expression. "You remembered more quickly than I did," she remarked. There was a palpable distance between them, despite the fact that she was little more than an arm's length away.

It was a face that Cassie knew all too well, and warning bells went off in her mind. "Jenna."

The blonde-haired girl inclined her head. A pink bandana kept her curls from falling in her eyes, and her crystal necklace gleamed in the nonexistent sunlight. "Cassie Chan."

She swallowed, knowing what she had to ask next. "Am I dead?"

"Not yet," Jenna said, with an odd smile. "And not anytime soon, if the medics have their way."

"Then--why am I here?" she asked uncertainly. Since Katherine Hillard's intervention three years ago she'd had several near-death experiences, but she hadn't found herself talking to ghosts until now.

Jenna cocked her head. "Well, it's not always up to the medics, is it."

The words gave her a chill, and she fought to suppress the sense of foreboding. "Where's Saryn?" she asked quietly.

"He's waiting for you at the hospital. The medics found your Ranger ID and called the compound, and Saryn teleported there as soon as he set down."

He had been on Calijyt, she remembered suddenly. "He's not alone, is he?"

Jenna shook her head. "Mirine's with him," she said, that same odd smile touching her lips again. "She'll keep him calm, if anyone can."

"Are you... have you been watching over him?" Cassie wondered aloud.

"You, actually," Jenna said with a shrug. "Although I admit that it turns out to be almost the same thing."

"Me?" She wasn't sure she'd heard right. "You've been watching out for me?"

"Sure." Jenna gave her a fierce grin. It was the most expression she'd shown yet. "We Pink Rangers have to stick together, you know."

__

"Saryn... Saryn, wake up."

He had shoved her to the ground just ahead of the detonator's concussive blast, and she knew instinctively that he had taking the brunt of a killing force. But her mind wouldn't accept what she saw when Aura pulled his still form off of her. He had come through too much only to let death claim him now.

Her hands were pressed against him before she knew what she was doing, rivulets of water running off her bare arms and weighing down her hair in the mist-filled room. Sparks where her skin touched his exploded into an all-consuming light, a ferocious pink blaze that swept across her vision and thundered in her ears, and for a few eternal seconds it was just her and the unstoppable tide of Power rushing through her.

Never had she felt the Pink Power as strongly as she did that day, not before and not since. It physically overwhelmed her, and she found herself waking up in Saryn's arms an indefinite amount of time later.

"It was you," Cassie breathed, staring at the former Pink Elisian Ranger. "Last fall, on Aquitar... that was you, wasn't it."

Jenna seemed to know what she meant without explanation. The other girl tilted her head in acknowledgement, her grin gone but a flicker of amusement lingering in her eyes. "I didn't put Saryn through four years of hell just so he could go and die right after he found you."

"Thank you," Cassie said softly. "For keeping him here. Again."

Jenna didn't even blink. "You're welcome. Now if I can keep *you* here long enough for him to get to you, then you can really thank me."

"He has the others," Cassie murmured, looking away. "He'd be all right." She deliberately kept her gaze averted, for if she couldn't convince herself there was no way she was going to convince Jenna.

"Right." The other girl's tone was wry. "Someday he'll be that stable, but right now you give him too much credit and I think you know it."

"Is that why you're doing this?" Cassie caught her eye again. "So Saryn won't be alone?"

Jenna actually shrugged, as if to say her reasons didn't matter. "He's a wounded soul," she offered. "It attracts protectors, I think. That and the voyager tendencies. The universe tends to balance strength and vulnerability, and he has a little too much of both to be comfortable."

It was the longest explanation she had given yet, but Cassie couldn't help noticing that she hadn't really answered the question. "So you're one of his protectors?" she prompted.

Jenna gave her an odd look. "No," she said at last. "For some reason, I'm drawn to you."

Cassie frowned. "But you don't even know me!"

"You don't think so?" Jenna inquired. A smile played about her lips, and Cassie shifted uncomfortably. There was something more than a little familiar in that expression. "I think you'd be surprised."

"Do you watch us?" Cassie blurted. She couldn't help feeling defensive, and she wasn't sure she didn't have the right. The idea of Saryn's former girlfriend spying on them was creepy, no matter how benign she seemed.

Jenna's smile widened, but her voice was gentle when she replied, "That's a little too time-consuming for me, and none of my business besides. No, it's not that I watch... it's more that things have become clearer."

"I don't understand," Cassie said, still frowning. "What things?"

"You, for one," Jenna remarked. "Your place in Saryn's life... His identity as a voyager, combined with his empathy and his history, makes him dangerously self-destructive. You've seen that, I'm sure. He has all that power and very little focus. You and your children will help ground him, give him the anchor he's needed for years."

It was on the tip of her tongue to say that Saryn was doing just fine when that last sentence brought her up short. "Children?" she repeated, startled. Reluctantly she added, "Saryn's been having dreams..."

"He would," Jenna agreed. "He can probably sense them. I assume you didn't tell him when you stopped taking your hormone supplements."

Cassie stared at her, her mind clicking into overdrive. She had stopped keeping track of her period months ago, when the stress of moving and going off the pill had made her irregular. "But he said--he's not human! I can't be... pregnant?" It came out as a question despite her best intentions, for the idea was too incredible to dismiss out of hand.

"You of all people should know how minor the difference is." Jenna looked nothing so much as amused. "From an evolutionary standpoint, the Eltaran line hasn't diverged that much. Although," she said thoughtfully, "I can't vouch for your children. I'm not sure whether they'll be able to continue the family or not."

"Children?" Cassie echoed again, not quite able to wrap her mind around the concept. But Saryn had used the plural too. "You keep saying 'children' instead of 'child'..."

"Are you telling me you really didn't know?" Jenna asked, giving her a curious look. "Not even a suspicion? You're pregnant with twins, Cassie. Believe me, you won't be able to ignore it much longer."

Her hand went to her stomach automatically, but she couldn't find the words to answer. "Twins?" she whispered, searching Jenna's face for confirmation. The surreal nature of the situation struck her then: standing here in what was quite literally the middle of nowhere, talking to her husband's old flame about her unborn children...

Jenna flashed an envious smile in response. "A boy and a girl--I hope I didn't spoil it for you," she added wistfully. "I'd always heard that you can tell when you're pregnant, that it's a feeling better than anything in the world."

__

"I'm sorry, Cassie. I did not think."

Her room was quiet and dark in the glow of predawn, and she bit her tongue to keep from pointing out that he had been doing that a lot lately. Or rather, failing to do it. He had come all the way from Aquitar in the middle of the night in an honest effort to reconcile, and she wasn't going to spoil it just because her "morning after" pills made her queasy.

He hesitated as she sat down, as though he had somehow heard what she didn't say. He anticipated her sometimes, but this time there was clearly something else on his mind. Instead of apologizing, he explained quietly, "Jenna could not have children, and it simply did not occur to me to ask you."

"You wanted kids," she said softly, turning the statement into a question at the last second. She didn't want to assume too much about someone she had never truly met.

Jenna tried to smile, but her eyes were sad. "Doesn't everyone?"

Impulsively, Cassie reached out to clasp her hand and lay it over her stomach. "Will you watch out for them too?" she asked, searching the other girl's expression. "Will you come see them when they're born?"

The white flickered, a brilliant piercing sparkle that made her eyes tear. There was a sound like a radio tuned a little too low, picking up static with the occasional understandable phrase. She shook her head, trying to clear it, and she felt Jenna pull her hand away.

"He's waiting for you," the former Ranger told her.

This time the white was drowned out by a crimson tide, a glow that washed through her and turned the world upside down. It brought with it intense pain, fear, and an anguish that did not abate with the rest as the flood of red light subsided once more. She felt the warmth and tingling that proceeded Saryn's Power-induced healing ability, stronger than ever as it brought her back to herself for a few brief seconds.

"I will not stand aside," she heard his voice growl, full of raw menace that would have sent any sane person scrambling for cover. "She is my wife, and my place is here!"

"She's also a pregnant woman who has just suffered intense trauma," a clipped voice replied. "So unless you're a prenatal specialist, get out of the way and let me do my job."

The static flared, as though everything she could hear had just taken on equal significance, and through the roar she could hear Saryn repeating faintly, "Pregnant?" He sounded so lost that she desperately regretted not discussing the idea with him before.

"You have to go," Jenna's voice urged. The white had melted into a chaotic blur that refused to settle, and the Pink Elisian Ranger had vanished but for her words. "I didn't keep you here just for the company, you know."

"Cassie?" She heard Saryn again, closer than he had been. When she tried to move she found that her body was no longer responding, and panic edged out all rational thought. There was only swirling darkness, throbbing noise, and an immense weight across her arms and chest.

"It's all right, Cassie..." His voice came again, and she wondered wildly what had happened to his friend. "Don't try to move. You're going to be fine. You have to stay still so the doctor can get some pictures."

She found herself relaxing involuntarily, and she tightened her fingers. She felt his hand in hers abruptly, and a surge of relief swept through her. The success with her fingers gave her enough courage to try opening her eyes, and kaleidoscopic motion made her head spin the moment she managed it.

"It's all right," Saryn murmured, and she felt his hand squeeze hers again. "Everything's going to be fine. Don't try to move."

She cracked her eyelids once more, intent on waiting out the dizziness this time, and color came rushing back. The ceiling settled out above her, the old-fashioned fan resolving itself at the proper distance and putting everything else into sudden perspective. She drew in a sharp breath when she realized there was some kind of equipment spread across her upper body, and she tilted her head before she thought.

A hand pressed against her forehead, holding her down, and she closed her eyes briefly. "Saryn?" she whispered, her eyes going wide as she tried to find him in the confusion.

"I'm right here." His voice had lost none of its reassuring calm--a far cry from the fierce defiance she had heard in his warning before. "I'm not going anywhere, Cassie. You're going to be fine; it's all right."

He had a tendency to latch onto a single phrase in a crisis, she noted distantly. It was as though his creativity failed him and he spoke only because he thought he should. And with the way he was projecting, she didn't see how he could think he had to talk. Mirine must be pouring everything she had into containing him, and if experience was anything to go by he wouldn't even thank her for it.

"Cassie?" He might say everything was all right, but his pretended calm slipped the moment she didn't respond. "Can you hear me?"

She swallowed, not sure how much she could trust her voice. But it was better than thinking about anything else right now, so she tried. "The whole--" Her throat closed up, and she swallowed again. "The whole city can probably hear you," she whispered, finally catching sight of his worried gaze at her side.

His lips quirked, but it was obviously a token smile. "You're going to be all right," he repeated, for the dozenth time. "Just relax."

"I'm more... more relaxed than you are," she breathed, her fingers clenching as she felt metal on her bare skin. She didn't try to move, not that she could have with him holding her down, but she couldn't help wondering. "They told you?"

"Told me what?" he asked, all innocence. His concern was unfeigned, of that she was sure, and she found herself wondering how much to say.

"The twins," she murmured at last, her eyes sliding shut against her will. "We're going to have babies, Saryn."

***

The room was dark except for the reflected glow of the streetlights, and she thought she was dreaming when she woke to the sight of Andros' face. Then she realized he was shaking her, gently but insistently enough to pull her out of a restless sleep. His hair was hanging in his face, and as she struggled to sit up she realized she didn't recognize his clothes.

"Andros?" she whispered. For a moment she thought Justin's experiment had sent her to JT's dimension, to switch places with an Ashley who knew a different Andros, or maybe brought him here instead. But then she saw his locket, still on its accustomed chain around his neck, and the absence of the phoenix necklace was enough to convince her that this was her Andros.

"I need your help," he whispered back. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah," she murmured, untangling the sheet from her legs. "Of course. Is everything all right?"

"For now," he said cryptically. He caught her hand and helped her up, letting her pull him toward the door. "That's what I need to talk to you about."

She gave him a searching look as she put her hand on the doorknob, but he didn't seem to see it. "The others?" she asked, a little worried.

"They're okay," he assured her. "This is about KO-35. Saryn sent a message this morning to the Border teams, and it sounds like we may have trouble."

The lights from the hallway blazed full strength all night long, and the instant she opened the door the glare spilled into her darkened room. She winced, squinting against the assault as she stepped out into the corridor. It didn't seem to bother Andros as much, and she took a closer look at him as her eyes adjusted.

"Where's your morpher?" she asked suspiciously. His wrists were bare, and she studied his clothes once more. "Andros, you didn't resign!"

He put a finger to his lips. She wrinkled her nose at the reproof, silently demanding an answer, and he nodded reluctantly. 

She slapped his shoulder. "What were you thinking!" She kept her voice to a loud whisper as he pulled the door shut behind them. "How could you resign without telling me? And what's this about trouble on the Border? KO-35 hasn't recovered from the last war yet!"

"Believe me, I know," he said, his voice just as quiet. "And I resigned because it was the only way to get the Council off my back. I would have told you, but there wasn't time. They're getting worse, Ash--Kerone says they summoned her and Zhane yesterday."

"That doesn't surprise me," she whispered. "We tried to tell you, you know."

"I know," he agreed, looking appropriately chagrinned. "I finally listened. It's time the astromorphers were reunited."

"Andros..." She glanced over her shoulder out of habit, but the hallway was empty. "We've been over this before. We can't all go to KO-35, and it's not fair to ask us to."

Andros gave her a half-smile. "I don't want all of you to come to KO-35." He held something out to her, and she glanced down automatically. Her eyes widened when she saw the two morphers in his hand, and as she looked up he told her, "I want to bring all the astromorphers here, to Earth."

"But--" She stumbled over the word, not sure where she was going with the rest of that thought. "You said..."

"I can't stay," he cautioned, a flicker of regret in his eyes. "I'm sorry, but now KO-35 is more vulnerable than ever. I can't abandon it just because I don't like the way the government is treating us."

"Then why--" She couldn't seem to complete a sentence. "You're giving us the astromorphers? All of them?"

"You guys were the team," he said simply. "I was just the Red Ranger. The astromorphers have defended Earth for years now, and I think somehow the Power knows that. I want them to stay here."

Her gaze was drawn irresistibly back to the red and pink morphers in his hand, and she reached out to take them. She hesitated before their fingers touched, though, and she frowned at him. "What about KO-35? You said you were going back, and if there's trouble on the Border... you need them more than we do right now."

"We do need them," he agreed. "But so does Earth. We can't have one team for two worlds, and as much as I admire TJ and Zhane for trying to make a split work, it's not going to last. It's just not enough."

"You're going after new Power," she breathed. "You're going to form a new team, aren't you. You and Kerone and Zhane."

"And you, if you'll come," he said steadily. He didn't seem at all surprised by her intuition, but they had always been able to read each other like that. She hadn't realized how much she missed it until he was standing in front of her again.

Now he was asking her to stand with him permanently, to be like this again: partners, lovers, two halves of a whole. But he was also asking her to give up all the things she had put on hold to be with him: school, her family, everything she had outside of the Rangers. They wouldn't just be secondary anymore, they would be out of the picture completely.

If she went with him this time, she wouldn't be coming back.

"We'll have to leave the morphers with Carlos," she whispered, pulling her silver and yellow wristband off over her left hand. "Let me call his phone so we don't have to knock on the door."

She ducked back into her room and picked up Missy's cordless from the desk. She tilted it toward the light as she slipped out into the hallway again, punching in the number she had only yesterday committed to memory. She felt a pang of disappointment at the thought that she probably wouldn't be using it again, but she suppressed the feeling as she pressed it to her ear and waited for Carlos to pick up.

There was no ring, no sound at all even, not even the chime of voice mail. She frowned, wondering if she had gotten the number wrong. She hung up and tried again, with no better results, and suddenly it dawned on her. "Damn," she muttered, lowering the phone. "He must be on Aquitar. Does he ever sleep?"

"What about Tessa?" Andros suggested. "She's just downstairs, right? She'd keep them for TJ if we asked her."

Ashley nodded slowly, still wondering about Carlos. She didn't even know when he'd left... it was funny, but she wasn't much closer to her friends now that they were on the same planet than she had been all summer. The old days really were gone--maybe they'd been gone a long time, and she just hadn't noticed until recently.

"I'll change," she murmured, realizing Andros was still waiting for her answer. "Let me put on some clothes and we'll go."

It was easier to leave than she had expected. The sense of muted urgency from Andros helped, and she suspected he had some kind of timetable. She didn't ask, just pulled on a pair of jeans and a yellow t-shirt and pretended not to watch Andros watch her dress. She was already wearing the necklace he'd given her for her birthday, and she slid Cassie's friendship bracelet into her pocket as she grabbed a sweatshirt off the back of her chair.

"I'm ready," she whispered, turning back to him. "Let's go find Tessa. Did you bring the Megaship?"

He shook his head, holding the door for her as she stepped out into the hallway. "Kerone," he answered, and that was all he had to say. Astronema's teleportation was nothing short of fantastic, and it was easy to forget how powerful she really was.

No one answered at Tessa and Karen's door for a good minute and a half, and Ashley was beginning to wonder if everyone was out when the lock clicked and the door cracked open. She put on her guiltiest face, which wasn't hard when she thought about what time it was, and the door creaked open a little wider. "Ashley?" someone whispered. "What's going on?"

It was Karen. She felt Andros shift impatiently, and she groped for his hand behind her back. He caught her fingers and squeezed briefly as she gave Karen her most apologetic smile. "It's kind of an emergency," she said softly. "Sorry to wake you up. Are you alone?"

The door creaked again, and it opened enough to reveal a sleepy Tessa beside Karen. "No," the blonde-haired girl said with a yawn. "We're harboring fugitives. Come on in."

Karen flipped the light on, and she and Tessa both shied away from the brightness. "What's the emergency?" Karen asked, ever practical. "Can we help?"

"Actually, yes," Ashley said with a small smile. She caught Karen's hand and closed her fingers around the Yellow astromorpher before she could protest. "Andros and I are going back to KO-35. He wants Earth to have the astromorphers. Carlos is gone and we don't have a whole lot of time, so you got elected as their guardians. Is that okay?"

Karen was staring at the morpher in her hand, and Tessa was staring at all three of them. "You want us to keep your morphers for you?" she managed at last. "For how long?"

"Forever," Andros interrupted. He took her hand as Ashley had done and put the Pink astromopher in it. "Or at least until you decide you don't want them anymore. You'll have to give mine to TJ; he'll know what to do with it." He proffered the Red astromorpher, and, if it was possible, Tessa's eyes widened even further.

"You're quitting?" Karen demanded. "You're giving up your morphers, just like that?"

"It's kind of a long story," Ashley offered, then narrowed her eyes at Andros playfully. "At least, I assume it is. I haven't actually heard it yet."

His mouth turned up at the corners, and they shared a smile.

"So does that--are we--" Tessa broke off, and Karen filled in the rest of the sentence.

"Are we Rangers, or what?" she asked bluntly. "Do you have someone else in mind for these? Are you coming back for them?"

"No," Andros answered. "They're yours. I hereby declare you the Yellow and Pink Astro Rangers, unless and until you choose not to accept the Power. Does that answer your question?"

"Not really," Tessa admitted. "Why are you giving them to us? Where are you going? Aren't you leaving KO-35 undefended?"

"Maybe it's just me," Karen added wryly, "but that seems bad."

"It's not just you," Ashley said, trading another amused look with Andros.

"There will be a Kerovan team soon," Andros told them. "Whether it's us or not, some new Power will rise to fill the void. That's how the Power Rangers work. By handing over the astromorphers we've created a vacuum, and it can't last."

"That's some pretty serious faith you've got there," Karen remarked.

"If faith is knowing something that other people only hope for, then yes," Andros replied. "It's serious faith. We need to go. Will you make sure TJ gets this?"

Tessa held out her hand without a word, and Andros passed his morpher to her. "I have faith," he added quietly, "that you'll both be excellent Rangers."

Karen's expression broke into a grin, and Tessa flashed him a brilliant smile. "Good luck," she said, her gaze flicking to include Ashley. "We'll see you soon."

Ashley smiled back, and Andros' hand on hers was the only warning she had before the world sparkled violet. He must have spoken to Kerone, but for the life of her she couldn't hear him when he did it. She could catch his thoughts when he spoke to her or to Zhane, but she seemed to have a blind spot when it came to his sister. She had cornered the Silver Ranger about it once, and he had admitted that he couldn't hear them speak to each other either.

They appeared in the room Andros shared with Zhane, and the light through the window was that of late morning at least. The time difference changed fast, for Keyota had been almost equivalent to PST in Angel Grove when she left. She glanced around, unconsciously scanning for other changes.

Zhane's clothes were still tossed haphazardly over everything in sight, while Andros' side of the room was predictably neat and organized. She smiled a little, remembering their discussion about living space. There was plenty to go around, but they had ended up spending more time in each other's rooms than in their own when they were separated, so Kerone had suggested sharing. She refused, however, to share with Zhane, which meant that they wound up with one room for the girls and another for the guys.

"She must still be with Zhane," Andros muttered, and only then did Ashley notice that they were alone. "How long does it take to wake him up, anyway?"

Ashley frowned a little at his tone, and she shot a glance at Zhane's bed. It was hard to tell whether it had been slept in or not, since he rarely bothered to make it. "Was he sleeping?" It must be almost noon, and that seemed excessive even for Zhane.

"Yes," Andros grumbled. "Maybe," he amended, at her surprised look. "I don't know. He was out late last night."

Ashley glanced at his bed again, considering Zhane's absence. There was only one logical conclusion, and it might account for Andros' odd reaction. "Have he and Kerone been sleeping together?" she asked, as casually as she could. She hadn't expected that, but it wasn't as big a deal as Andros would make it out to be.

"No," he said, surprising her. "But she doesn't seem to care."

She blinked. He actually sounded... upset. And that didn't make any sense. "Sex isn't everything, Andros. It's enough that they love each other, isn't it?" She shook her head, smiling a little. "I would have thought you'd be the first to tell her that."

"It wouldn't matter if I did," he muttered. "She doesn't take my advice anymore."

"Did she ever?" Ashley countered, puzzled. "She's your sister. She's Kerone! Since when do you not trust her?"

"I trust *her*," he retorted. "She was here last night. Zhane wasn't."

She stared at him. "You don't... where was Zhane?" she asked, changing questions midsentence. It was probably safer to avoid the implication that his best friend was the one he didn't trust. 

"No idea." Andros glared at the floor as though it had done something to offend him. "He didn't tell me where he was going."

She put a hand on his shoulder, repressing a sigh at the tenseness of his muscles. Zhane must have gotten tired of fighting and gone out to find his own fun. She didn't blame him: Andros was too much for her sometimes, and she was in love with him. She couldn't imagine how happy-go-lucky Zhane put up with him when he got like this.

"He just needs some space," she murmured, putting her free hand on his other shoulder and squeezing gently. "You can't ask him to give everything without getting something back. He's just..." She dug her thumbs into his muscles, kneading absently as she searched for the right words. "Zhane has different priorities, that's all. He'll always be there when you need him."

Andros rolled his shoulders, and it surprised her when he only tensed further with the motion. He did sigh, but it didn't seem to relax him any. She let her hands slide down his arms and leaned forward to kiss the back of his neck. "Andros," she said quietly, resting her chin on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

He sighed again, and this time, finally, she felt his shoulders slump a little. "I don't know," he muttered. "I'm glad to see you, but I'm so angry with Zhane that I haven't even told you. I'm worried that this isn't going to work, and I'll have left KO-35 with no defense against evil. And on top of it all, I slept on a couch last night and my neck hurts even more than my shoulders."

She smiled to herself, pressing closer against his back as she slid her arms around his waist. "Typical Andros," she whispered in his ear, walking her fingers slowly up his chest. "Taking all the responsibility for yourself. Didn't you learn about sharing in kindergarden?"

He drew in a breath as her hands reached bare skin at his collar, and she flexed her fingers gently against his neck. "No," he mumbled, letting his head droop forward a little. "Everything I know about sharing I learned from you."

She kissed him again, but she didn't stop her caresses. He shrugged once, loosening the tight cords of his neck further, and she worked her fingers around to the back. There was only so far she could reach, but when he moaned softly she knew she'd hit the right spot. She kept it up until he relaxed enough to lean into her, and then she unwound her arms and let him turn toward her.

"Did I mention that I missed you more than anything?" Andros whispered, lifting one hand to stroke her cheek tenderly.

"Maybe." She tilted her head, nuzzling his fingers until he slid them into her hair and drew her closer. "But I wouldn't mind--"

"I missed you," he breathed, not waiting for her to finish. "I've never missed anyone like this, not the way I've missed you the last few days. I don't know how I made it through all those years before we met."

He kissed her before she could answer, his mouth melding with hers in a hot kiss that took her breath away. She hadn't expected his insistence, and her arms crept around his neck even as her knees threatened to give way beneath her. He held her close, held her up, demanding everything she had and giving no less in return.

As she melted into his embrace, Ashley found herself wondering why she had ever left.

***

*Zhane?*

He didn't move from the pleasant tangle of arms and legs, keeping his eyes shut in an effort to deny the intrusion. *Not here?* he suggested hopefully.

*Sorry,* Astrea's voice answered. *That won't work this time.*

The corner of his mouth quirked upward, but he still didn't stir. *You say that like it worked last time!*

*I need to talk to you,* she insisted, not diverted by his humor. *Can I come in?*

*No.* Of course she could come in; it was her room, after all. And if she said she needed to talk to him, it had to be important. *Give us a minute, would you?*

*Sure.*

He really didn't want to move. As long as he was here, in this bed, the world couldn't touch him. And he didn't have to care--about the world, about the Rangers... about anything, really. It was a pretty nice way to exist.

The warmth beside him shifted a little, and it was enough to tell him that he wasn't the only one reluctant to face the consequences of consciousness. "Awake?" he heard Ty whisper, the word barely audible in the silent room.

He sighed, letting his eyes slide open at last. "Awake," he agreed quietly. As he took in Ty's tousled hair and sleepy golden eyes, he felt a smile spread across his face. "Morning, Beautiful."

A lazy smile echoed his own, lighting Ty's face and making him seem far more alert than he'd been a moment before. "Back at you," he murmured, tipping his head so that his hair fell away from his eyes.

Zhane reached out and brushed it back, his fingers skimming the tangles so they wouldn't pull. The auburn streaks gleamed in the sunlight pouring through the window, and he wondered idly what time it was. Then Ty stretched, drawing in a deep breath as his eyes closed in utter contentment, and the thought vanished as quickly as it had come.

*Zhane...*

He sighed again. *Just a minute!*

Ty was watching him, and there was a flicker of concern in his expression. "You all right?"

"Yeah," Zhane mumbled, pushing the sheet back unwillingly. "Remember the girlfriend I told you about?"

Ty went from concerned to wary in the space of a second. "Astrea?"

"Yeah," Zhane repeated. "Astrea. She's at the door right now, and she says it's important."

Ty reached the logical conclusion, and his eyes widened. "You can read each other's minds?"

"Not so much," Zhane said wryly, propping himself up on his elbows. He reasoned that it was closer to getting up than he had been before. "It's more that she can read anyone's; she just does it to me more than most. She's a telepath."

Ty considered that for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face. "That must be--interesting," he said at last.

"That's one word for it," Zhane agreed with a half-smile. "She wants to talk... do you mind if I let her in?"

"Not until I put something on!" Ty protested. He sat up abruptly and glanced around as though he expected the door to open at any moment.

Zhane narrowed his eyes in amusement. "Spoilsport."

"She's seen you naked already!" Ty retorted.

"Not as often as you'd think," Zhane admitted ruefully. "Besides, it's not like you have anything to be ashamed of. I consider it a privilege to look at you, with clothes or without."

Ty shot him a grin, but a knock on the door prevented him from replying. No ordinary knock, this was the sound of an extremely impatient sorceress banging on the door in an effort to get her point across. She was probably about two seconds from coming in whether they were ready or not, and Zhane couldn't help rolling his eyes.

"We're coming!" he shouted. "Why'd you agree to wait if you were just going to annoy us the whole time anyway?"

"Stop complaining and hurry up!" she answered from the other side of the door.

Ty was pulling on the sweats he had worn to the showers last night, and Zhane leaned over the side of the bed to retrieve his trousers. "Okay!" he yelled a moment later, exchanging a quick glance with Ty. "You can come in, but this better be important!" 

A violet silhouette stepped through the still-closed door, and he saw Ty's eyes widen. "Showoff," Zhane accused, frowning good-naturedly at her. "You only did that to prove you can."

"That's the only reason I do anything," she replied. "How does it feel to be KO-35's only remaining Ranger?"

He blinked, trying to process that. "You resigned too?"

"No," Astrea said calmly. "I sent my morpher to Earth with Andros. We stole the Red astromorpher back and he took that with him too. The astromorphers will defend Earth permanently now."

The world had just dropped out from underneath him. "Andros..." It came out as a whisper, and he cleared his throat with some effort. "Andros--moved to Earth?"

"No," she said quickly. "He just took the morphers so he could hand them over to TJ and Carlos. He thinks KO-35 needs its own team, with independent morphers and a new Power source. So he gave the astromorphers to Earth."

Zhane stared at her. "Why bother to tell me?" he asked at last, barely managing to keep his voice even. He was seething inside. It was some testament to how confused his emotions were lately that he could go from bliss to rage in a few short minutes. "Obviously I'm not a part of this plan."

There was sympathy in her gaze, but wisely she didn't try to apologize for her brother's actions. "He wants you on the new team," she said simply. "He wants you to come with us on our Power quest."

"'Us'?" Zhane repeated, eyes narrowed. Only two days before, he had asked Andros which was more important to him: his identity as a Ranger, or his "best friend". With every word, Astrea proved Andros' answer a lie.

"Him," she said slowly. "Me. And... he was going to ask Ashley while he was on Earth."

"Sounds like you have everyone you need," he remarked, ignoring her hesitation. "Why should I go? I already have a morpher, and I haven't been part of the team since I 'died'. Why change now?"

She looked back at him steadily, unfazed by the angry undertone to his voice. "Because we need you, too," she told him. "And because... I'm asking you. Please come, Zhane."

He could count on one hand the number of times she had said "please" to him, and he found himself wavering. She wanted him to go with them--and when it came right down to it, could he let Andros go without him? His mind said yes, vehemently and somewhat bitterly, but his heart said no.

"All right," he muttered. There was nothing else he could do, no other answer he could live with, and he couldn't help resenting it. "When do we leave? I'm sure Andros has it all planned out."

She flashed him a smile that, under other circumstances, would have made his heart melt. "This morning. As soon as you're ready."

"Wait a minute," Ty interjected, the interruption tinged with uncertainty. "I know this isn't any of my business... but how safe is this? This quest you're talking about?"

"On a scale of one to ten?" He was staring at the floor. He didn't know when that had happened, but he didn't particularly feel like looking up, either. "It's maybe a zero."

"Zhane." There was a note of urgency in Ty's voice, so different from his usual calm indifference that it got Zhane's attention. Then he was down on one knee, directly in front of the bed so that Zhane couldn't help but meet his eyes.

"I've already lost one lover to a battle I had no control over," Ty told him, his voice carefully neutral. "I'd rather not go through that again, if it's all the same to you."

Zhane shifted where he sat, uncomfortably aware of Astrea's curious gaze on them. "It's not," he muttered, looking away. "It's not all the same to me; you know that. I don't want you to get hurt."

He felt Ty's fingers brush his chin, and he glanced back at him reluctantly. "Then don't go just because you think you don't have any reason to stay," Ty said quietly.

Zhane looked at him, forgetting for a minute that Astrea was there. "I don't think that," he murmured. "But I have to go. Sometimes the actions of your teammates choose your course for you. That's what it means to be a Ranger."

"Then--" Ty paused to swallow. "At least let me go with you." His voice was still perfectly steady, but his eyes pleaded with Zhane to agree.

There was a long silence, and Zhane didn't have to ask whether or not Ty knew what he was saying. He didn't. He couldn't; none of them could. Andros had been handed his morpher as soon as he was old enough to understand what it was, and Ashley and Astrea had come by theirs in similar ways. The concept of a quest was completely abstract to them, with no practical implications except the receipt of new powers if they were found "worthy".

But then, that was often the way with Rangers. When it came to the Power, innocence and blind faith could take you just as far as experience and skill. Sometimes farther.

"I can't tell you not to come," Zhane said at last. "But if anything happened to you--"

"At least I'll know I wasn't left behind again," Ty interrupted firmly. "That matters to me, Zhane. And," he added, his tone softening, "to be honest? I think you're going because it matters to you, too."

They just looked at each other for a moment, and finally Zhane smiled a little. "I guess it's a good thing I'll have my trusty bedwarmer along to keep me company."

A look of outrage swept the serious expression off of Ty's face, and he unfolded from his position on the floor faster than the eye could follow. As he tackled Zhane, slamming him down on the bed hard enough to make his teeth rattle, he retorted, "Good thing there'll be someone who can cook for me... oh, that's right--you can't!"

"Lucky me," Zhane teased, grinning up at him. "All the comforts of home, and I don't have to do a thing!"

"Is that what you think?" Ty growled. He leaned forward until his mouth was centimeters from Zhane's, a hungry look in his suddenly dark eyes. "Remind me to disabuse you of that idea at the first opportunity," he said huskily.

"Gladly," Zhane murmured. He came awfully close to pointing out that this opportunity was as good as any other when Astrea intervened.

"Excuse me," the former princess of evil said calmly. "As interesting as this is, I believe I mentioned that we're a little short of time. Since I obviously can't leave you alone together, I suggest you finish getting dressed. Now."

Ty let him up with an exaggerated sigh, but Zhane noticed that he gave Astrea wide berth as he padded across the room to retrieve his shirt. "Are we allowed to use the bathroom?" Zhane inquired, tearing his eyes away from Ty to give Astrea his most innocent look.

He saw Ty lift his head at that, but Astrea only narrowed her eyes. "One at a time," she said firmly. "Hurry up."

He would have given a great deal to know what she and Ty talked about while he was gone, or indeed if they spoke at all. When he came back, though, they were on opposite sides of the room, studiously avoiding each other's gaze. He gave Ty an inquiring look, but the other boy just smiled reassuringly as he straightened up and headed for the door.

Zhane turned his stare on Astrea as soon as the door closed. "What did you say?" he asked suspiciously. "You didn't give him a hard time, did you?"

She frowned at him. "I didn't say anything. He seems perfectly nice--why would I give him a hard time?"

He relaxed a little. "No reason. Sorry. I didn't mean to sound upset."

"It's okay," she said with a smile. "It's nice to see you enjoying yourself again."

He shrugged, pleased that she approved. "I like him," he said simply.

"I'm glad," she answered, but her smile faded a little. "Zhane... you know Andros won't want him to come."

"So?" he demanded, bristling again.

Astrea shook her head. "So nothing. I just don't want you to be surprised."

"I won't be," he muttered darkly. Then he shook it off, making an effort to lighten his tone as he gave her an apologetic smile. "Thanks, though. I'm sorry about all this."

She looked a little surprised. "It's not your fault."

"It's my fault that you're in the middle," he said with a sigh. "I shouldn't complain to you about your brother, but I can't help it. I have to tell someone, and until you shut me up it will probably be you. I'm really sorry, Astrea."

The smile crept back onto her face, and she shook her head again. "It's okay," she repeated, more gently. "I wish there was something else I could do, but... Andros is Andros."

"Can't argue with that," Zhane agreed, pulling a clean shirt on over his head. He had been tempted to wear Ty's, but he couldn't quite justify it. Besides, if there was one thing he knew about Power quests, it was that the more of yourself you held onto, the more likely you were to succeed.

Neither of them said another word until Ty returned.

_fin_


	12. Silence

__

Disclaimer: SOTPR, even when they fight. Of all the Rangers, I thought Cassie and Ashley had the most credible catfights. Zhane and Andros couldn't pull it off because Zhane was too laid back. I suppose fanfiction exists to fix canon problems.

****

Silence  
by Starhawk

She should have knocked.

It was easy to see that in retrospect, of course, but she really should have thought of it beforehand. She'd been so relieved to finally get Zhane and Ty out the door that she'd forgotten they might not be the only ones in a compromising position. Or maybe she had just gotten so used to Andros' distance of late that she had forgotten he knew how to be passionate.

Either way, the door had been opened and there was nothing she could do about it now. Ty looked a little startled, but Zhane, to his credit, bounded into the room as though there was nothing out of the ordinary. "Hi, Ash," he said cheerfully, with the voice of someone who had walked in on them countless times before. "How've you been?"

Her face was flushed as she pulled away from Andros, but she recovered her composure quickly. "Busy!" she answered, sliding off of Andros' lap with a breathless smile. "How about you?"

"Lonely and bored without you," he declared, throwing himself down on his bed. "For lack of your company, I've been forced to go places with Astrea, and you know very well she still has trouble comprehending the concept of 'fun'."

"I do know," Ashley said, suppressing a giggle as she exchanged amused glances with Kerone. "Poor Zhane... It must have been hard for you."

Kerone rolled her eyes as Zhane sighed dramatically. "You have no idea!" he exclaimed. "I finally had to give up and make new friends!" He gestured at Ty, who offered a bemused nod when Ashley turned her gaze on him.

"Hello," she said readily, smiling in welcome. "I'm Ashley Hammond, from Earth."

"Nice to meet you," Ty responded, returning her smile. "My name's Tixe, but my friends call me Ty."

Kerone caught Zhane's eye behind Ashley's back and mouthed _Tixe?_ He just grinned at her and put his hands behind his head, glancing idly around the room. Or it seemed to be idle--it didn't take her long to realize that he was watching Andros' reaction as Ashley and Ty exchanged introductions.

Andros regarded Ty as he might a hard-wired quantron: scathingly, but with a certain amount of wary curiosity. How much, how hard, and how far, if the bomb went off right now. He didn't seem to realize that the explosion, if it came, wasn't going to come from Ty at all.

The moment Ty glanced in Andros' direction, Zhane stepped in, probably to mitigate Andros' glare. "And this taciturn fellow," he drawled, "is Andros. I'm sure you recognize him. Former Red Ranger, commander of the Megaship, all around child prodigy. Not very good with the social skills, though."

Ty's lips quirked, but he nodded as politely to Andros as he had to Ashley. "Nice to meet you," he repeated, smiling at little.

Andros didn't smile back. In fact, he ignored Ty altogether as he turned a stern look on Kerone. "I told you to get Zhane."

She raised an eyebrow at his tone. "I did," she pointed out.

"Andros," Ashley scolded. "You could at least say hello!"

"He's always like this," Zhane told Ty carelessly. "Don't take it personally."

Andros narrowed his eyes, but he didn't look away from Kerone. "This is about the Rangers," he told her. "We don't need extraneous people getting involved."

"Since when do you decide who's involved and who isn't?" Zhane inquired, staring up at the ceiling. "Is this another of your Supreme Mandates that you conveniently forgot to tell me about?

Kerone could feel Ashley's wide-eyed gaze on her, looking for some kind of explanation, but she wasn't going to back down from Andros' glare. "We need anyone who's willing," she informed him. "Ty knows the risks, and he's volunteered to come anyway. It's as simple as that."

"You want him to come with us?" Andros' expression was one of sheer disbelief. "He's not even a Ranger!"

"Neither are you," Zhane told the ceiling.

"Excuse me," Ty put in. "Could I say something here?"

"No," Andros said firmly, still not looking at him. "Kerone, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but there's a reason that civilians don't go on Power quests. If we fail, we don't just get sent home with a slap on the wrist. We don't come home at all. Do you understand that?"

"Stop talking to her like she's a child!" Zhane burst out, abandoning all pretense of lounging. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say! Of course civilians go on Power quests! If they didn't, spoiled brats like you who had a morpher handed to them on a velvet pillow would be the only ones to ever hold the Power, and the forces of evil would have long since conquered anything worth having!"

Andros stared at him in shock, and Kerone sighed, very quietly. 

That was it, then. It was too late now--maybe it had been too late the instant she stepped through the door with Zhane and Ty. She caught Ashley's horrified look from across the room, and in that brief moment of silence she wondered what her friend was thinking.

"I didn't..." Andros' words were heavy in the quiet room, but there was an edge of controlled anger in his voice. "I didn't mean you, Zhane."

"That's the problem, isn't it," Zhane retorted. "You never do. You didn't mean me when you said friends were more important than the Power. You didn't mean me when you said you were going to start treating people like they mattered again. And you don't mean me now, when you say you want Rangers on your stupid quest. You just want little copies of you, obedient followers that will do whatever you tell them to!"

"That's not true," Andros said through gritted teeth. He was clearly fighting a losing battle with his temper, and Kerone wondered what had happened to his resolve to reconcile. Was he really that upset that Zhane had slept with Ty instead of her? Or was he upset that Zhane had slept with Ty at all?

"I want people who know what they're getting into," Andros was saying, his voice still carefully even. "I want people who have had experience with the Power and know how dangerous it is. If we get into trouble we can't exactly start over and try again--"

"Don't lecture me!" Zhane shouted. "I died for you, Andros! I know the consequences of this life a hell of a lot better than you do!"

He'd hit a sore point, and Andros snapped. "Then you know why I don't want him coming! Most people stay dead! I don't want that on my conscience!"

"I'm sorry I couldn't do that for you, too," Zhane shot back. "Next time I won't bother coming back. But in the meantime you're stuck with me, so stop treating me like I'm not here!"

"I'm not the one sleeping with strangers," Andros hissed. "He's not coming just so you have someone to adore you while you ignore all your friends!"

Kerone clenched her fists, shifting as casually as she could to hide involuntary violet sparkles behind her back. There were times she really did wish she could hurt her brother. Just a little bit.

"Who died and made you the sole power in the universe?" Zhane demanded furiously. "Oh, wait, I did! Well, I take it back. As the only one here with any actual authority, I say Ty can do whatever the hell he wants!"

Andros stared at him in surprise. "Is that what this is about?" he wanted to know. "Who's in charge?" He frowned, his anger waning a little in the face of this new puzzle. "You never complained before."

It was amazing how completely he could miss the point, Kerone reflected. She glanced over at Ashley and found her looking at Ty oddly. She followed the other girl's gaze, making a mental bet with herself concerning the number of minutes it would take Ashley to ask her if she and Zhane had broken up.

"That's because I don't care who's in charge!" Zhane exclaimed. Ty was watching him with an expression of dawning comprehension, and Kerone wondered if Andros was the only one who couldn't see it. "You know I never wanted to lead! All I wanted--"

He broke off abruptly, his jaw working. "All I wanted was to be a Ranger," he said at last. It was clearly not what he had started to say. "I just wanted to help you." His voice was lower but no less angry--if anything, he sounded more dangerous than he had when he was shouting. "If you want to take that for granted from me, that's your choice, but don't do it to other people."

His tone had no effect on Andros, who shot back instantly, "It doesn't help me to have untrained civilians whose only qualification is that they're head over heels for a uniform!"

Kerone stiffened, and behind her back her fingernails dug into her palms. She saw Zhane pale, and she longed to do something--anything that would make Andros take those words back. He didn't even know what he was saying.

"Shut up," Zhane whispered at last. His rose uncontrollably as he repeated, "Shut up, Andros. Just shut up! I didn't ask for things to be this way! If you don't want me around you could just say so and save me the trouble of pretending to be your friend!"

Andros' eyes widened in outrage, and Kerone was on her feet before she knew what had happened. He paid no attention to her, all of his focus intent on Zhane. "I don't want--"

That was as far as Andros got before a violet glow flared around him and he was silent. He continued to form the words for several seconds before he realized he wasn't making any sound, and he turned his glare on her. _What did you do?_ The question was clear on his lips, but she ignored it.

"Zhane's right," she said calmly, relaxing her fists with conscious effort. "Until you can speak without hurting people, I'd rather you not speak at all. Now tell Ashley where we're going and the two of us will demonstrate how to have a conversation with someone you respect."

He closed his mouth and glared at her, making the silent message clear. Kerone only shrugged. "Fine. If you're going to let your personal issues put the entire planet at risk, what do I care? The Frontier Defense will be better off once KO-35 has been conquered anyway. They don't have the resources or the motivation to defend an insignificant colony on the outskirts of nowhere."

Andros' eyes narrowed, and for a moment there was complete silence. She had seen the same thing on the Bridge of the Dark Fortress, when the tension was too thick to measure. No one dared move, uncertain what the repercussions of attracting attention would be. There were too many variables in the room right now.

Then Ashley shifted, a subtle movement that drew every eye as effectively as if she'd shouted. "The skyport," she said, her gaze flicking from one person to the next. "We're going to Cayeron."

"Thank you, Ashley." She made her tone deliberately polite. "It's nice of you to relay Andros' information to us. I'm sorry to inconvenience you this way."

Ashley's expression looked torn between worry and bafflement, but her mouth twitched at Kerone's precise courtesy. "It's all right," she said automatically. Then she added, "You are my best friend, after all." She glanced at Andros just in time to catch his exasperated Look.

"We don't have to go to the skyport." Zhane's voice was strained, but he was thinking, which was more than she could say for Andros. "My hover's parked outside. And Andros' isn't charged anyway."

For some reason that made Andros turn his glare on Zhane, who studiously ignored it. It was definitely better not to have her brother talking. At least Zhane knew how to control himself.

"Thank you, Zhane," she said, still carefully formal. "May we take your hover?"

He gave her a weak smile for her effort, and she saw his shoulders relax slightly. "Why yes, Astrea," he mimicked, a flicker of amusement in his eyes. "You're always welcome to use my hover, but it's nice of you to ask."

She winked at him before turning her attention to Ty. "I wouldn't blame you for changing your mind," she told him seriously. "It's not always like this, but it's not all picnics and parties either. We love each other, and we'll love you if you give us a chance. But you can't love this much without hating just a little. We might not even live long enough to show you what it's really like."

"I'm not changing my mind," Ty answered. His reply was firm, but it was quick enough that she knew he'd already considered the possibility. His gaze slid to Zhane, and he added, "I'm going with you."

Ashley stirred at that, and out of the corner of her eye Kerone saw her frown at Andros. She could just imagine what he was thinking right now. Luckily, she could *only* imagine it--she should have tried silencing him a long time ago.

"Astrea," Ty said suddenly, and his use of Zhane's nickname for her surprised her.

It clearly surprised Andros, too, but she ignored her brother's frown. "Yes?"

Ty gave her a small smile. "Thank you."

She smiled back. "You're welcome." Glancing around at the others, she inquired mildly, "Is everyone ready?"

Ashley cleared her throat. "Andros would like to know when he can speak again."

"Maybe tomorrow," Kerone said, not looking at him. She doubted anyone in the room would complain, except possibly Andros, and luckily he couldn't.

When no one else said anything, she shrugged and turned toward the door. "Let's get going, then."

***

He loved Zhane's hover. It was comfortable and old and it smelled funny. It was exactly the opposite of his, which was why his sat uncharged at the skyport while Zhane's got older and more comfortable with every trip. And sometimes, when Andros drove, it acquired a new scratch here or there that made it all the more glamorous.

When he didn't drive, he worked on the design carved around the passenger controls. It had grown quite elaborate over the last few months, and he was actually rather proud of it. The places where Zhane had added to the carving himself were noticeable only if one knew the artists, and Andros was sure the person currently inspecting the designs couldn't tell the difference.

He frowned, glaring at the back of Tixe's head as the scenery flashed past around them. The other boy rode up front with Zhane this time, and Andros resisted the urge to kick the back of the passenger seat. No one rode shotgun in Zhane's hover but him.

*Are you going to sulk the whole way?* Ashley asked silently, settling against the backseat. She had leaned forward to talk with Zhane and Tixe a few minutes before, and he had deliberately tuned out their conversation. If he wasn't allowed to speak then he didn't see any reason to listen.

He turned to stare out at the hills, avoiding her gaze. *I'm not sulking.*

He heard Ashley sigh. *Whatever you say.*

She asked Kerone a question about agrec then, and Tixe turned around in his seat to listen. Andros glared out at the scenery, silently reminding the other boy that the question hadn't been directed at him. He ought to face forward and mind his own business.

But of course Kerone referred the question to him, which had probably been Ashley's intent all along, and even Zhane listened when Tixe offered an explanation. They were certainly going out of their way to make him feel comfortable. No one got to be a Ranger by being coddled, yet that was exactly what they were doing.

__

"We'll love you, if you give us a chance."

Some of them already were, he thought, narrowing his eyes. And Kerone and Ashley seemed eager enough to please. It didn't look like Tixe would have to give them much of a chance at all. No, anyone that Zhane liked was automatically good enough for the rest of them. He supposed he should be thankful Zhane didn't bring more people home with him, or they would be overwhelmed with pretty, chatty people who felt welcome everywhere they went.

Zhane would like that. He grimaced, remembering the parties Zhane had finally stopped trying to get him to attend. Ashley had gone in his place, and the two of them would come back in the ridiculously early hours of the morning with laughter and exhaustion spilling off of them in waves. He was just as happy to sleep, once they finally came back and he knew they were safe.

__

"You can't love that much without hating just a little."

If the reverse was also true, maybe that explained why he was here. He hated Zhane. He really hated him. He hadn't hated his best friend this much since they were fifteen and the Silver Ranger had stolen his morpher. Literally stolen it, hidden it, and dissolved into hysterical laughter when Andros threatened to beat the location out of him.

They had fought until they were too tired to hit each other anymore, wreaking havoc on the holding bay with their recklessness. He caught himself about to smile at the memory, and he frowned instead. The two of them had ended up sprawled on the floor together, and he had woken with his morpher in his hand. It had been in Zhane's pocket the whole time.

That was a long time ago. More than three years, now, and he and Zhane hadn't sparred since they'd lived on the Megaship. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Zhane laugh that hard. Why did things have to change?

__

Zhane didn't change.

He didn't know where the thought came from, but he hated it instantly. He hated it almost as much as he hated Zhane. Although he had been trying to think about Kerone and what he would do to her once she lifted her stupid spell, somehow he couldn't keep Zhane's words from echoing in his head.

__

"Save me the trouble of pretending to be your friend!"

The old Zhane never would have said that. The idea of the old Zhane pretending anything would have been laughable anyway. Old Zhane didn't hide things, and he was terrible at lying. His blue eyes would go wide, and his expression would be so free of guile that he couldn't be anything but guilty... It was a look Andros knew well.

__

I don't know who threw that water balloon! No, of course I didn't take the last cookie. I have no idea where your morpher is... did you check your room?

The hover jolted a little, and he heard Zhane laugh. "The port thruster controls on your side are weird," he was telling Tixe. "Basically don't try to steer left unless you have to. This thing doesn't do dual flights much anymore."

Andros' fists clenched, and he bit his lip to keep from speaking before he realized it didn't matter. No one would hear him anyway. _He_ had always been able to make Zhane's hover do what he wanted. The port thruster controls worked fine when he was in the passenger seat.

Kerone. He yanked his concentration back to his sister. If she could silence someone just like that, at will and with no apparent effort, what else could she do that she had forgotten to tell them about? He had never asked about her magic, assuming she would share what she was comfortable sharing. He was beginning to think that had been a mistake.

Why had she done it, though? Granted, his argument with Zhane had no place on a power quest, and it was certainly no one's business but their own. But Zhane had started it, and Zhane was still talking. And quite frankly, she had better reasons to be angry with Zhane than with him.

*Ash,* he thought suddenly. *Ask Kerone why Zhane can talk and I can't.*

He felt her glare at him, and he realized belatedly that he had interrupted her. *Sorry,* he added, a little annoyed by her reaction. He hadn't been paying attention, after all. *Please?*

She relayed the question loudly enough that everyone could hear it, and he kept his gaze pointedly on the landscape. Apparently, whatever Kerone had against him was contagious. He should have expected the girls to side with each other.

His sister's answer was short and to the point. "Because Zhane didn't hurt you."

His eyes widened, but he didn't turn to look at her. Zhane didn't hurt him? After calling him a spoiled brat, telling him he had no authority, and implying that Zhane was only pretending to be his friend? What had Andros done that even came close to that?

He had implied that Tixe didn't belong on a power quest. And maybe he had been a little bit condescending about it. Still, Zhane knew he did that. He didn't mean to talk down to people, but he repeated things as much to verify his own thought process as to inform others. Either way, though, it seemed that Kerone thought the slight to Tixe had hurt Zhane more than anything he had said to Andros.

It was a distressing thought, because Kerone was seldom wrong on the few occasions when she ventured an opinion about someone else's emotions. The months with Saryn had made an impression on her. And Zhane had certainly seemed upset--far more upset than the situation warranted, if it came to that. The two of them had to be a lot closer than he'd thought if Zhane had taken the insult that personally.

Why didn't Kerone care? He could almost hear her response. _Why do *you* care?_ He cared for the same reason she ought to, of course: Zhane was breaking her trust. Or maybe "trust" was the wrong word, since her trust seemed unshaken... but he was doing *something* wrong. Of that Andros was sure.

Someone poked him, and he glanced around involuntarily. Ashley was giving him a concerned look, but she covered it with a casual smile when he caught her eye. *What are you thinking about?*

*Zhane.* He was about to turn away when he saw the flicker of uncertainty in her gaze.

*Is he--sleeping with Ty?* she wanted to know.

He frowned, and this time he did look away. *Yes.*

For a moment she didn't say anything, and despite himself he was curious about her reaction. He found himself waiting for it, wondering if she would take the news in stride or muster the same outrage he felt whenever he thought about it. Would her reaction contradict or confirm his own?

*Kerone doesn't seem upset about it,* she said at last, and he suppressed a sigh. He should have known better than to think Ashley could be outraged about anything.

*No,* he agreed shortly. *She doesn't.*

He thought she had given up on talking to him again, but then out of nowhere she said, *He's not replacing you, you know.*

Andros looked at her in surprise. *What?*

*You're jealous of Ty.* She studied him as though she could read his feelings through his eyes, and he lowered his gaze quickly. *I don't think you have to be,* she continued. *Ty's not taking your place--he means something different to Zhane.*

*Like what?* Andros demanded. He looked up in spite of himself, searching her expression. He would take any answers he could get at this point.

*Well, think about it,* she urged. *He loves Kerone, but he can't really be close to her. He can be close to you--or he could--but he can't love you. With Ty he's free to be whoever he wants, and he probably just needs to enjoy that for a while. He's still your friend before he's anything else... or he will be, if you let him.*

*Why can't he love me?* he protested sullenly. *He used to--* He suddenly realized who he was talking to, and he tried to stop that thought before it could be completed. But thoughts were harder to change than spoken words, and he knew she heard *--before he died.*

She didn't even blink. *Did he love you before that?* she repeated. Her tone was gently curious, as though she sought confirmation of something she had already known.

When he didn't answer, she gave him a knowing look. *Are you sure he's the one who stopped?*

He stared at her, the question turning itself over in his mind. She smiled a little, lifting one hand to his cheek as she leaned in to kiss him. Her mouth was whisper soft on his, and she was almost gone before he remembered to respond. She just smiled again, mouthing _I love you_ before turning back to Kerone.

Several seconds later, he realized he was still staring at her, and his gaze shifted toward the driver's seat without conscious thought. Zhane was laughing at something Andros had missed, his expression open and easy for the first time in days, and the hover was racing the way it always did when he wasn't paying attention. He was finally starting to look his age, his body compensating for the time spent in hypersleep, and with an uncomfortable jolt Andros realized that Zhane and Tixe looked good together.

Yes, he reflected glumly, the two of them had changed. Both inside and out. He couldn't help but wonder how much. And... how come?

***

"They're not home," Zhane said at last, setting the chime off one more time. He could hear it sound within the house, but it had no more effect than it had the other three times he had tried it. He couldn't help feeling relieved--it would be easier if they didn't have to explain themselves to anyone just yet.

"Can you get in anyway?" Ashley wanted to know.

For answer, he pressed his palm to the decorative plate set in the house's exterior. The door slid open with barely a whisper, and he smiled to himself. His grandparents were hopelessly modern.

"Wow," Ty said, peering inside. "Nice..."

Zhane stepped through the front door, surveying the open-style construction that his mother's parents favored. He had to admit that Ty was right: it was nice. The design was simple, but no expense had been spared when it came to inhabitation and furnishing. The house's owners knew what they liked, and they didn't stint when it came to acquiring it.

Ashley seemed less awed than Ty, but she was new enough to KO-35 that she still saw the alienness first and the details second. "What are we looking for, exactly?" she asked. "Would any of us recognize it?"

"We're looking for a... key." He knew that wouldn't help anyone much, but there was no other way to describe it. "Andros will know it when he sees it, but the rest of you probably won't. It doesn't look the same to everyone."

He felt Andros' gaze on him again at that. Those hazel eyes had stared at him for almost the entire trip, and he was doing his best to ignore it. If it didn't stop soon, he was going to ask Astrea to just give Andros his damn voice back. He didn't know how much longer he could take this scrutiny without knowing what was behind it.

"Any idea where it would be?" Ty asked, taking a few hesitant steps away from the group. He reached toward a lamp hanging from the second level, and a muted glow sprang forth before he could touch it. "Nice," he repeated, a small smile on his face.

"Probably in my room." Avoiding Andros' gaze, he caught Astrea's eye and added, "It'd be worth checking the second level too, though. It could have gotten moved up there with some of my other stuff."

"Ashley and I will look on the second level," she said smoothly. Her words were the only indication that she had seen and understood his pleading look. "Andros can be our key detector. Ty, do you mind helping Zhane?"

"Not at all." Ty pointed at another lamp, and it brightened in response. His smile widened. "I probably won't be that much help, but at least I can turn the lights on."

Ashley imitated him, and her eyes widened when one of the darkened lamps lit up. "Cool!"

Zhane glanced back at Astrea in time to catch her patiently amused look. "Good luck," she told him wryly, in a tone of voice that said they'd need it.

He suppressed a smile at the dirty look Ashley sent her way. "You too," he said, turning to look for Ty. His gaze struck Andros' completely by accident, and he swallowed hard. *Stop staring at me!*

*I'm not,* came the startled reply.

That surprised Zhane at least as much as his protest seemed to have surprised Andros, but not because of the words. He had been blocking Andros for days, not that the Red Ranger had noticed. Hearing his friend's voice in his head again was at once pleasant and disturbing.

*Zhane?* Andros sounded tentative this time, and Zhane wondered if he had noticed after all. It was the voice of someone who wanted to ask why something had been given back, but didn't dare for fear that it would be taken away again.

Or maybe he was reading too much into it. He turned away, not blocking again, but not answering either. If he spoke to Andros now, everyone in the room would be able to read their conversation on his face. He wasn't sure it was worth finding out what Astrea would do if they fought again.

"Are you all right?" Ty kept his voice low as he followed Zhane across the room, but there was no mistaking the concern in it. "Did she say something to you?"

"Can you really tell every time I do that?" Zhane asked, embarrassed in spite of himself. "I wish I could be someone else for a day. Everyone else reads me better than I do."

"You don't hide things," Ty said simply. "It's nice."

"Nice for you," Zhane muttered. "There are a few things it'd be nice to keep private."

"Oh, Andros doesn't know."

Zhane froze. Ty came to a halt beside him, putting his hands in his pockets while he waited for Zhane to speak. He looked entirely too casual for someone who had just said what Zhane had heard him say. He hadn't even known Ty two days ago.

"Excuse me?" he managed at last. "What did you just say?"

"Andros doesn't know," Ty repeated calmly. He did glance over his shoulder, though, checking on the others' progress up the stairs. "I don't think he has the faintest clue how you feel about him, so if that's what you wanted to keep private, congratulations. It's working."

Zhane grabbed his arm and hauled him into the room his grandparents still kept for him after all these years. "You've got to be kidding me," he said, as the door slid shut behind them. "What doesn't Andros know? How do you think I feel about him?"

"You tell me," Ty replied. "You joined the team for him, didn't you. You didn't want to help him, you just wanted to be with him. You still do; that's why you're here when he can't even muster a half-hearted 'thank you' for the way every single one of you is putting your life on the line for him and his mission."

Zhane stared at him and Ty gazed back, waiting.

"This may surprise you," Zhane said at last. "But I've gone a year and a week without one person asking me how I feel about Andros. Now every time I turn around someone's there to tell me how transparent I am."

Ty studied him a moment longer, as though searching for a response. "What happened a year and a week ago?"

"I woke up from hypersleep," Zhane answered with a grimace. "Nightmare, actually; I don't recommend it. Although given the alternative," he added as an afterthought, "I guess it could have been worse."

"Is that where you were all those years?" Ty asked quietly. "In hypersleep? When we evacuated and neither of you came back, everyone said that you'd died and Andros had gone mad. You were heroes, both of you, but... it was a bitter thing."

"Tell me about it," Zhane muttered. "I took a saber slash meant for Andros, and I died knowing that he loved me. Two years later I woke up from hypersleep with his girlfriend standing over me and I haven't heard the 'l' word from him since."

"You were together, then," Ty said, gaze steady on Zhane's. "Everyone assumed, but you were so young... Not many people thought it would last."

Zhane couldn't contain the ironic smile that spread across his face. "See what I mean? Think how much I could learn if I was anybody else. I'd know so much about me I could write a book."

"You can still prove them wrong," Ty told him, and the urgency in his voice surprised Zhane. "What do other people know, anyway? Every relationship has its ups and downs. It's not over until you give up on it."

"It's not over until one of us gives up on it," Zhane corrected. "And I think he beat me to it."

"I think you're wrong." Ty's hands were still in his pockets, and his gaze had yet to waver from Zhane's. "I think Andros was madly in love with you then, and I think he still is now. I think he forgot how it feels, and how you feel, so much that he doesn't even recognize it anymore. And," he added with a small smile, "I think he's so jealous right now that if he ever acknowledges my existence it'll be a miracle."

Zhane frowned slightly. "You think an awful lot for someone who just met Andros today," he said at last.

"Actually," Ty answered with perfect equanimity, "I just like putting my foot in my mouth. It keeps me flexible."

Zhane blinked at him for a long moment before the words finally registered, and he started to laugh. "Honestly, Ty," he said, shaking his head as his chuckles subsided. "Why are you still talking to me?"

"Because your girlfriend thinks I'm cute," he replied promptly. "Or because I don't have anyone to read my mind if she puts her 'silent' spell on me; one or the other."

Zhane laughed again, but somehow it made him feel guilty. He didn't deserve to have Ty cheering him up, not when he had--consciously or not--chosen him as a substitute for his best friend. It hadn't seemed as shockingly thoughtless then as it did now.

"Really," he insisted, when Ty only smiled. "Why are you doing this, Ty?"

"Encouraging my lover to chase someone else?" Ty suggested with a wry look.

Zhane nodded, not sure what else to say.

"Because I'm not after your heart," Ty told him gently. "I've already lost mine, and he's not coming back. I don't want the same thing to happen to you--not when yours is still in reach."

"Thanks," Zhane said wistfully. The words only made him lonelier. "But I think it's too late."

"Why?" Ty insisted. "Why does it have to be too late when the guy you love is right upstairs? He's barely taken his eyes off of you since we left Keyota, and you think he doesn't care anymore? Why don't you just tell him and see what happens?"

"Because he's being a jerk!" Zhane burst out. "You saw how he was this morning! I can't tell him anything anymore!"

Ty was quiet for a moment. "Do you think he was like that because of me?" he asked at last. "He's not very happy that I'm here."

Zhane sighed, his irritation ebbing as quickly as it had come. "He's been like that for a while now. He says he thinks he's losing us, but whenever we try to be there for him he just pushes us farther away."

"Maybe he's afraid of depending on you," Ty offered.

"That would be just like him, too," Zhane muttered. "I don't know. Sometimes I think I don't even care."

"If you didn't, you wouldn't be here," Ty pointed out.

"But if I did, I'd want to be here," Zhane countered just as quickly. "I guess I'm somewhere in between caring and not."

"Zhane..." Ty hesitated, making it clear he was serious. "I'd hate to see you give up on him just because he doesn't know what he wants. I know you probably feel like you've given him plenty of chances, but... you're still together. That must count for something."

*Zhane?* To have Andros interrupt was unsettling, to say the least. Luckily, he didn't wait for Zhane to reply before offering an explanation for his intrusion. *I think we found it.*

No sooner were the words out than Astrea's voice echoed them. *Andros says we've found the key.*

Interesting. He must not have told Astrea that Zhane had stopped blocking him. Of course, if she'd shown any willingness to turn her magic on Zhane he'd be careful what he told her too. Luckily, and for some reason he still didn't understand, she seemed to have sided with him against Andros.

"Did they find something?" Ty asked, watching him carefully.

"Andros thinks so." He glanced around the room before adding wryly, "I hope he's right, since we certainly didn't get very far."

"Funny how many problems go away if you ignore them long enough," Ty commented. "Do you think if we just waited here they'd be back from the quest by dinner?" 

Zhane chuckled. "If they weren't, you'd have fewer people to cook for."

"A win-win situation," Ty agreed with a straight face.

***

She heard Andros call Zhane, and raised an eyebrow when Kerone announced a moment later that she had done the same. Andros stared studiously down at the first level, not meeting either of their gazes. She narrowed her eyes at his back, wondering what was going on. Andros and Zhane obviously weren't the only ones fighting--he was angry with Kerone, too, and Ashley didn't think it wasn't just because she'd silenced him. 

She wondered if she had left at the wrong time, or exactly the right one... No one was upset with her, so she supposed that was a plus, but she also had no idea what was going on. Andros was furious with his best friend and his sister for reasons she couldn't fathom, and they were both fed up enough to retaliate. At least they had all been on speaking terms a week before.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Kerone asked, breaking the silence with a curiously detached voice.

Ashley glanced over at the object Andros had identified as the key. She blinked, looking up to catch Kerone's eye before turning to Andros. The "key", which looked eerily similar to one of their old Turbo keys, had been hidden in with some old laser toys that Andros seemed to recognize. It had looked out of place, even to her, but it hadn't been glowing when they found it.

It was glowing now. It seemed to be brightening, too, but it was hard to say for sure. Andros gazed at it with an apprehensive expression, and that was enough to make her nervous. She tried to remember the story Zhane had told her, so long ago now, about his quest for the Silver Power. She didn't think he had mentioned anything about glowing keys.

"Thank you," Andros said quietly, and Ashley started. 

Her gaze had slid back to the key while she was thinking, and she must have missed whatever exchange had taken place between Andros and his sister. Or maybe this time there had been no outward manifestation of Kerone's magic. Ashley still couldn't tell how much of the sparkling violet effect was actually necessary and how much was just for show.

"I'm sorry I had to do it," Kerone answered. "I know it was rude, and unfair, and I'm sorry I abused your trust like that. But I didn't know how else to keep you from saying something to Zhane that you couldn't take back."

"What I say to Zhane has nothing to do with you," Andros told her. "You don't get to choose our conversations for us."

"No," Kerone agreed. "You're right that I don't get to choose. But you're wrong when you say it has nothing to do with me. I love him, Andros, and if you paid any attention to him at all lately you'd see he's hurting."

"Man," Zhane's voice interrupted from the doorway. "You're lucky you had Andros with you. No one else would have recognized that bright glowing thing floating in the air."

Ashley glanced over at the key in surprise. He was right: it was now hovering over the box they'd rooted it out of. It was even turning slightly, idly, and it was definitely glowing brighter than it had been before. Andros looked nonplussed, though whether at the key's actions or Kerone's words it was impossible to say.

"At least we know we had the right search strategy," Ty commented, stepping into the room behind Zhane. "Stand around and do nothing, and it will come to you."

"We weren't standing around doing nothing," Andros informed him. It was the first time he had spoken to Ty directly, and the hostility in his tone was unmistakable.

"Well, it worked for us," Zhane said. The lightness of his voice sounded forced, and Ashley wondered if he had overheard their conversation as he came up the stairs. He didn't seem surprised to find Andros talking again. "Next time we'll switch off and see what happens."

"Is that--getting brighter?" Ashley nodded toward the key, knowing it wasn't the most insightful thing she could have said. It was clearly brightening, to the point where it was now casting shadows in the well-lit room. But someone had to divert their attention before things degenerated again.

"It's like a countdown," Zhane offered, following her gaze. "It'll keep getting brighter until we choose people for the quest or it chooses them for us."

"It can choose?" Ty sounded a little nervous, and Ashley didn't blame him.

"Sort of. If we don't touch it, all of us together, before it goes critical, it will snatch up everyone in range and put them all through the trials."

"What's its range?" Kerone wanted to know. "And how do we know when it's about to go critical?"

Zhane shrugged, looking remarkably unworried. "I think its range includes anyone conscious of it at the time it chooses, so right now? Basically us. Or you guys, at least, I don't know if it would take me or not. But I'm not going to find out. We have until it gets too bright to see before we have to grab it, but the sooner the better as far as I'm concerned."

"Wait." Kerone's voice stopped him when he would have reached for it, and Zhane gave her an expectant look. He was only looking at her, Ashley noticed, and she wondered what he was thinking.

"I'm not a Ranger," Kerone said evenly. "But I'd like to think I've learned something about them after watching you for so long. You've always been loyal to each other, even when it hurt you, or when it seemed like anything else--anything at all--would have been easier than standing by your teammates. You've never, ever given up on each other.

"Maybe that loyalty comes from being friends, not Rangers. But if that's true then I don't think you can be Rangers without being friends, because that loyalty is what makes you so hard to defeat. Astronema could have taken any one of you alone--except maybe Zhane," she added with a half-smile. "But together, you won. I lost. And I won't lose again.

"So whatever it takes to make the five of us into a team," she said, giving each of them a pointed glance, "that's what we're going to do. Whether we have to fight, or kiss, or beat each other senseless, we're in this together. Don't forget that."

"Will you be the one beating the rest of senseless, then?" Zhane inquired dryly.

She gave him another of those half-smiles. "If necessary. Why, do you want to help?"

Zhane smirked back at her. "Maybe."

The room's ordinary illumination was completely washed out by now, and everyone looked oddly sharp, as though the light from the key was burning away the softer edges and leaving only essential lines behind. Before she could comment, she heard Andros sigh. She crossed her fingers, hoping his pride hadn't been too offended by Kerone's speech.

"I'm sorry," he said at last, surprising her. It was very close to the last thing she had expected him to say. He was looking straight at Zhane, and she realized suddenly that he didn't care what the rest of them expected. He was speaking solely to his best friend now. "I'm sorry I upset you, Zhane." 

There was a pause, and then Andros added more softly, "I didn't mean... if I hurt you, I didn't mean to."

Zhane just looked at him, an unreadable expression on his face. "I know," he said at last. It was his turn to sigh, and he made no effort to hide it. "I know you don't mean to."

A slight frown creased Andros' forehead, but before he could answer Zhane offered, "I'm sorry I called you a spoiled brat."

The corner of Andros' mouth quirked at that. "I probably deserved it," he admitted ruefully.

"Not the way I said it, you didn't." Zhane wasn't smiling. "I shouldn't--I shouldn't have said a lot of those things."

"Neither should I," Andros replied firmly, his voice gaining strength. "It was my fault, not yours." He looked over at Ty before Zhane could answer, and he continued as though he was afraid of losing his momentum. "I'm sorry I was so rude to you, Tixe. I swear I'll watch your back as carefully as anyone else's on this quest."

Ty glanced from Andros to Zhane and back again before nodding slowly. "I'll do my best to reciprocate," he answered at last.

"So will I," Kerone put in. She glanced around as she had before, making it clear she was addressing all of them. "You have my word."

"And mine," Ashley agreed quickly. "Friends stick together no matter what."

"Then let's go." Kerone reached for the key, hesitating just before her fingers would have touched it, and she looked at the rest of them expectantly.

Andros echoed her gesture, and Ashley followed suit. The three of them stood with their hands extended, encircling the key, while Zhane and Ty exchanged glances. Ashley saw Andros' eyes narrow, but before he could say anything they both stepped forward. The rest of them shifted, making room around the key, and Zhane reached out a fraction of a second before Ty.

The key expanded without warning and the world flared blinding white as five hands touched its surface simultaneously.

_fin_


	13. Perfect Life

__

Disclaimer: This is not Dallas. SOTPR. "We need PUPPY POWER!" The problem with perfect lives is that they often involve other people, and other people rarely have the same idea of perfection. Plus no one really knows what they want. That makes it harder.

Perfect Life  
by Starhawk

Blip blip. Blip. Beep blip blip blip.

"Some of us are trying to sleep," he muttered, not opening his eyes.

"Are not," Zhane's voice replied. "You've been awake forever."

He smiled to himself, lifting his head slightly so he could pillow it on his hands. He kept his eyes closed, listening to the steady beep and click of the digital starfighter game. The observatory was cool and otherwise quiet, and he had no desire to leave the comfort of their sleeping bags just yet.

"I had a weird dream," Andros remarked abruptly.

"Yeah?" The rhythm of blips and chimes didn't falter. "What about?"

He was silent for a moment, trying to find the words to explain. "Winning," he said at last. "Have you ever wondered what it would be like if we beat Dark Spectre?"

"We have beaten Dark Spectre," Zhane answered. "Lots of times."

Andros opened his eyes, frowning up at the closed portal in the ceiling. "Not like that," he said, rolling over on his side. He propped his head on his hand and watched Zhane press buttons with single-minded determination. "I mean if we really beat him. What if we destroyed Dark Spectre and drove his armies out of League space for good?"

Zhane didn't answer right away. He stared at the screen in front of him as though it was the only thing holding his attention, but Andros knew better. Finally he offered a one-shouldered shrug and said noncommittally, "A lot of people would be awfully happy."

Andros studied him. It was just like Zhane to judge something in terms of its effect on other people, rather than its intrinsic worth. "So you don't think it would be a good thing?"

"I didn't say that." Zhane grimaced at the screen as it flared briefly, his thumb white on the thruster control as he tried to outrace whatever he had just done. "People being happy is a good thing."

"But what about us?" Andros pressed. "What would it mean for us?"

Zhane glanced away from the game long enough to give him an odd look. "Wouldn't it make you happy to defeat Dark Spectre?"

Andros frowned, following Zhane's gaze back to the digital screen. "I thought it would," he said slowly. "Now I'm not so sure."

The screen froze, and it took him a second to realize that Zhane had paused the game. "What did you dream about?" the Silver Ranger asked, shifting the rest of his concentration to Andros.

He lifted his eyes to Zhane's again. "That we went back to KO-35," he admitted. "That Dark Spectre was gone, and the Border was free. We went home... you and me and Kerone--and Ashley came with us."

"The others stayed on Earth?" Zhane guessed.

Andros started to nod, then stopped. "Sort of. TJ and Carlos, anyway. Cassie went with Saryn. We all... the team split up."

"That's probably what would happen," Zhane pointed out. "If there wasn't any need for the Astro Rangers anymore, we would split up. It wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing."

"No," Andros agreed with a sigh. "I guess not. But I'd still miss them."

"Me too." Zhane studied him a moment longer. "Is that it? You're depressed because you dreamed about defeating Dark Spectre?" He grinned suddenly. "I think you need to work on your priorities."

He smiled a little, but he couldn't help wondering if there was some truth to those words. "Maybe I do. In my dream... I don't know. Never mind."

"In your dream, what?" Zhane prompted patiently.

Andros hesitated, troubled. "You were mad at me."

To his surprise, Zhane laughed. "Why would I be mad at you?"

"I don't remember," he admitted. "But it had to do with the team breaking up." He searched Zhane's expression, and he found nothing there except open amusement and maybe a little bit of concern. "You'd tell me if you were upset, wouldn't you?"

"Nah," Zhane said, still grinning. "I'd just whack you upside the head."

Andros rolled his eyes, and Zhane chuckled. "Sure," he relented. "I'd tell you. Must not have been a very literal dream if I kept it a secret."

Andros shrugged, still disturbed. "I just didn't like it," he said at last. "You were... you were different, somehow."

"Bet you were the same," Zhane teased, sliding his pillow out from underneath the digital game. It caught Andros in the face before he even registered Zhane's intent. "Obsessive compulsive and prone to brooding!"

Andros sputtered, shoving the pillow back at Zhane instinctively. "I am not!" he retorted, fingers closing around cloth when he realized what had just happened. He grabbed the pillow even as Zhane reached out to snatch it.

"Are so!" Zhane's voice was muffled as he ducked his head, and the pillow Andros had aimed at him struck only a glancing blow. "Plus you're a lousy shot!"

Andros scrambled out of his sleeping bags, lunging forward as Zhane lifted his head again. He knocked Zhane onto his back and pounced, but the Silver Ranger must have seen it coming. He rolled out of the way before Andros could pin him, laughing.

Zhane tackled him even as he tried to regain his balance, and Andros found himself pressed to the ground by his friend's weight. "There's only one cure for obsession, you know," he informed Andros.

"A new obsession?" Andros replied innocently.

Zhane smirked. "Distraction," he corrected. Arms braced on either side, he leaned down and covered Andros' mouth with his own.

Andros closed his eyes, lifting his head to deepen the kiss, and the sensation sent warmth shooting through him even as he shivered. It was an eerie echo of their first kiss, and the fleeting sense that this was all still new teased the edges of his awareness. Then Zhane moved closer, his silver t-shirt just brushing Andros' bare chest, and he ignored the half-formed thought in favor of more pleasant ones.

Zhane drew back abruptly, pulling Andros up beside him with a smooth movement that brought their bodies together once more. "Consider me distracted," Andros whispered, claiming another kiss as Zhane's hands slid over his upper arms and wrapped him in an unbreakable embrace.

There was a low rumble, and Zhane disentangled himself with a chuckle. "Consider me hungry," he said ruefully. "How do you feel about breakfast?"

"Unmotivated," Andros replied without hesitation. "But I'm willing to be convinced."

"Yeah?" Zhane gave him a speculative look, and a moment later the Silver Ranger's kiss had recaptured his every sense. Sapphire eyes so close to his, the soft whisper of air and skin, the taste of wet warmth and the dizzy feel of someone who couldn't quite remember which direction was "up"...

"How willing?" Zhane whispered a moment later.

Not surprised to find his eyes were closed, Andros just smiled. "Pretty willing," he admitted.

He opened his eyes to find Zhane grinning back at him. "Good," the Silver Ranger told him. "Cause I'm pretty hungry. So let's go." 

Andros dug his t-shirt out from under his sleeping bags and pulled it on, elated without knowing exactly why. It wasn't like this morning was any different from the others. They had been able to sleep a little later than usual, but their routine was so familiar by now that he already knew who would be in the holding bay when they got there.

Zhane grabbed his hand the moment the shirt settled over his shoulders, pulling him toward the door with an impatience that made Andros laugh. "What, you think DECA's going to run out of food before we get there?"

"You never know," Zhane said over his shoulder. "There's a lot more people on this ship than there used to be!"

"And half of them sleep later than we do," Andros pointed out. "If anyone's going to miss out on the food, it'll be TJ. Or maybe Cassie."

"She has Saryn to wake her up," Zhane countered. Then he grinned as the implications of that sank in. "Actually, you're right. It probably will be Cassie."

It wouldn't be Kerone, that much was certain. It was ironic that the person least interested in breakfast was invariably the first one up for it, but her internal alarm seemed to be set several hours earlier than everyone else's. No matter how long she spent on the Megaship, the habits etched into her psyche by years on the Dark Fortress were slow to change.

She was joined by Ashley, as Andros had known she would be. Carlos was there too, but he was over by the Synthetron and there were only two plates on the table. He must have beaten them by mere seconds.

"Good morning!" Ashley's greeting was almost instantaneous, and Andros flashed her a smile for her sunny tone. She grinned back at him, and he let go of Zhane's hand to wander over to the table.

"Morning," he said, kicking a stool out from under the table and sitting down. "Plotting to take over the universe again?"

Her grin vanished and she looked at him with wide eyes. "How could you tell?"

"You have to work on that guilty expression," Kerone told her. "It gives us away every time."

"It's not the expression," Zhane called from the Synthetron. "It's the company!"

"Can't change that," Ashley retorted. "You guys will just have to go on vacation while we put our evil plan into effect. Not that there *is* an evil plan," she added quickly.

Kerone sighed. "Have I taught you nothing?"

"At least I remembered to deny it," Ashley said, giggling.

"So Zhane," Andros said, as Carlos joined them at the table. He nodded to the Black Ranger, who looked too distracted to be paying much attention to the conversation. "Where should we go for our vacation?"

The Silver Ranger pretended to think about it. "I guess it depends," he said at last. "How long do we have?"

"Three or four days should do it," Kerone said blithely.

"Three days?" Zhane set his plate down next to Andros' and swung his leg over one of the stools. "You only need three days to take over the universe? This must be some plan."

"I'm sorry I missed the beginning of this conversation," TJ's voice interjected wryly. "Anyone want to fill me in?"

Andros looked over his shoulder to find the Blue Ranger standing in the doorway, regarding the scene in the holding bay with an amused expression. It wasn't TJ that caught his attention, though--it was the glowing key that hung in the air beside him. TJ walked right through it when he stepped into the holding bay, pausing by the table to inspect their food before committing to a meal of his own.

Andros cast a furtive glance around the table as Ashley laughingly tried to explain the plan she and Kerone didn't have. No one else seemed aware of the key, though he saw Zhane give him an odd look out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't remember exactly what the glowing object meant, but it called to mind images from a dream he was trying to forget.

"Hey," Zhane whispered, leaning close under cover of Kerone's indignant protest. "You okay?"

The key was still hanging in the doorway when he looked again. He felt Zhane fumble for his hand, and warm fingers squeezed his reassuringly. He sighed, relaxing a little at the unspoken offer of comfort. Zhane obviously couldn't see it, so what did it matter?

"Sure," he said, turning his back on the key. He smiled at Zhane, squeezing his hand in return. "I'm fine."

***

"Hey, sleepyhead." 

There was a gentle pressure on her shoulder, and she blinked as someone shook her awake. For a moment, the room didn't make any sense. She was alert enough to realize she had been asleep, but that was as far as it went.

"You're missing the movie," the voice continued. "And I've seen this one before, so if you're not watching it I'm putting in something else."

"You just want to watch 'Monty Python' for the five thousandth time," TJ put in.

"So?" Cassie demanded good-naturedly. "Want to make something of it?"

"I could take you," TJ retorted.

The couch shifted under Ashley as her best friend bounded up, lifting her fists in a mock defensive stance. "Bring it on!" she cried, shaking her long hair back over her shoulders. "The kick-your-ass fighting style is a family tradition!"

Ashley watched with amused dismay, remembering Cassie's tussle with Saryn the week before. "Not in the room, guys," she said, rubbing her eyes in a futile effort to dispel her drowsiness. "Outside."

A knock on the door prevented them from following through on her suggestion, and Andros came in without waiting for an invitation. "Dinner," he announced, dropping an armful of paper bags on the bed next to Carlos. "You owe me three-fifty, by the way. Someone here can't add."

"Why are you looking at me?" TJ demanded. "Zhane's the one who forgot the tip last time."

"I paid for Zhane's," Andros informed him. "Six-twenty plus five ninety-five is twelve-fifteen, plus one sixty-three for the tip." He gave TJ an expectant look.

Ashley giggled, pushing herself up out of the couch cushions. "Don't argue math with Andros," she told TJ, raising her hands over her head to stretch. "There's no way to win."

"Don't argue anything with Andros," Carlos corrected, reaching for the bags. "Where's the receipt? If you're not going to let us eat until we figure it out, we might as well do this right."

"Excuse me." Cassie squeezed past Andros and started poking through the bags with Carlos. "My boyfriend is exempt from the wait-to-eat rule, so if we owe, tell me later. Thanks for getting the food, Andros," she added, almost as an afterthought.

"Thank you," Ashley agreed, sitting on the edge of the bed next to Carlos so she could study the receipt over his shoulder. "Who got fried mushrooms?"

"It's funny how I become the most popular person in the room when I'm next to the food," Carlos told her.

"Hey, kick-ass girl," TJ said. He had yet to move from his beanbag in front of the television, but he was watching as Cassie opened one carton after another in search of hers and Saryn's. "Pass those hot dogs this way."

Cassie handed his sandwich carton to Ashley, and she passed it over the end of the bed to TJ. "If you want ketchup," she added, anticipating him, "you can find it yourself."

"Isn't there some in the refrigerator?" Cassie asked, popping another carton open before setting it aside. "I feel like we had this problem last time."

"Kerone!" Carlos exclaimed triumphantly.

Andros' sister turned innocent hazel eyes on him. "Yes?"

"You owe Andros money," Carlos informed her. "You didn't pay at all!"

Kerone only smiled. She was perched on the arm of the couch, and she had to stretch her legs out to reach into her pocket. She handed over the money without complaint, and Carlos narrowed his eyes at her.

"Once an evil, always an evil," he muttered, passing the bills to Andros.

"Can we watch the news?" TJ wanted to know. He didn't look up from where he was rooting through the little refrigerator, and Ashley gave him an odd look.

"TJ, there's only two cubic feet of space in there. Do you have to reorganize the entire refrigerator? The ketchup's in the door."

"And since when do you want to watch the news?" Carlos added.

"I'm just trying to forestall Cassie's Monty Python marathon." TJ gestured at the screen, where "Galaxy Quest" was still playing. "Besides, I can't figure out what's going on in this movie, so we might as well watch something with more explosions."

"Did I miss anything?" Zhane asked, hanging on the doorframe as he leaned into the room. "Hey, the food's here!"

"You're welcome," Andros told him. He handed Zhane a sandwich carton before he could ask. "Vegetarian and yet still disgustingly unhealthy."

Zhane opened the carton and took a deep breath, closing his eyes in contentment. "Ah... I knew I could count on your decision-making ability," he teased. "Thanks!"

"Yeah, thanks Andros," Cassie agreed. She had settled on the floor next to Saryn, who was still leaning back against the couch and watching the scene with a noncommittal interest. "You saved Saryn from a dinner of chocolate cake."

"I despise chocolate," Saryn remarked, his voice quietly neutral.

"I know," Cassie said cheerfully. "That's why I'm going to make you eat it until you get used to it. It's the only way to survive in this country."

"I thought the only way to survive was to cultivate total tolerance to fried food," TJ put in.

"Amen to that," Carlos agreed, lifting a french fry as if offering a toast.

A whoop from the hallway cut off any further conversation, and it took a moment for the sound to sink in. As the piercing siren continued, though, Ashley traded an incredulous stare with Carlos. "We just had a fire drill last week!"

"Zhane?" Kerone inquired from her perch on the couch.

He put his hands up in the air defensively. "I did nothing, I tell you! Nothing at all!"

"Come on," Cassie said with a sigh. "The faster we get outside, the faster they'll let us back in. Bring that with you," she added, glancing back at their food as Saryn pulled her to her feet. "If something's actually burning, I don't want you to go hungry."

"You mean you don't want him to get all hypoglycemic and snippy," Ashley corrected, sticking her tongue out when Cassie made a face at her.

"There's cereal in your bottom left desk drawer," Saryn remarked, apparently at random.

Ashley gave him a wary look, wondering how he knew that. "So?"

"Don't expect it to be there the next time you look," he told her.

"Cassie!" Ashley complained, trying to stifle a giggle. She glanced over her shoulder as she filed out into the hallway with the others. "He's being mean to me!"

"Suck it up," came the reply. "He says worse to me!"

"But I can't beat him up for it!" Ashley protested.

"Why not?" Cassie wanted to know, catching up to her at the top of the stairs. "I do."

"Yeah, cause he's not allowed to hurt you," Ashley retorted.

"He's not allowed to hurt you either, believe me," Cassie said with a grin. "Now Zhane, on the other hand..."

"What about me?" Zhane wanted to know. "Stop whispering; it makes me nervous."

"Does not," Ashley said with a laugh. "It only inflates your ego. You probably think we're talking about how gorgeous you are."

Zhane smirked. "You admit I'm gorgeous! Good for you! Repression isn't healthy, you know."

"It might be for you," Andros interrupted, shoving him just as he stepped through the door. Zhane tripped on the lip and might have gone sprawling if Ashley hadn't caught his arm. As though nothing had happened, Andros continued, "I'd be willing to find out, anyway."

Zhane glared at him balefully. "Yeah? Well, my girlfriend can out-magic your girlfriend, so there."

Ashley blinked, and she heard Cassie burst out laughing.

Andros just shook his head. "I don't even know what to say to that," he said, bemused.

"You do realize they're becoming more matriarchal every day," Carlos told TJ. "Do you think we should do something about that?"

"Is there anything we can do?" TJ countered.

Ashley glanced around for Kerone as they joined the other dorm residents on the opposite side of the street. She found Andros' sister listening to the conversation with a curious look in her eye, contentedly munching on something in a cardboard box. She winked conspiratorially when she caught Ashley's eye.

"They're catching on," the other girl said quietly, offering her the box. "Do you suppose we should tell them that women have always ruled the universe and they're only now noticing?"

They were fried mushrooms, Ashley realized as she reached into the box. She popped one into her mouth as she considered, then shook her head. "They'll figure it out eventually," she answered with a grin.

Kerone sighed in mock-disappointment. "I think you put too much faith in them," she commented, taking another mushroom.

A bright glow caught Ashley's eye, and she glanced back at the dorm in alarm. She could hear the sirens from the fire trucks already, but she hadn't thought the building was actually burning. There hadn't been a dorm fire on campus in more than a year.

The glow didn't come from flames; it came from they key floating by the front door. Her eyes widened as she recognized it. She'd seen that shape when she'd fallen asleep during the movie, and it had meant something...

"What's wrong?" Kerone was asking, following her gaze. "You look like you've seen a noncorporeal manifestation of something unpleasant."

Normally she would have laughed at her friend's phrasing. This time, however, she just frowned. "Do you see that?" she asked, nodding toward the door. They key was still there but apparently invisible to the firefighters as the trucks pulled up and started discharging people and equipment.

"See what?" Kerone wanted to know. "The firefighters?"

Once off the trucks, they were heading straight into the building to look for stragglers. No one made any effort to unwind the hoses or hook up the water supply, and Ashley wondered distantly if it had been a scheduled drill after all. Maybe the student response time had been so bad last time that they were doing it again.

No. Ashley shook her head, frowning again. Last week she had been on KO-35, not at AGU participating in a fire drill. She remembered it suddenly and vividly, the scene as clear in her mind as this one was now. Standing in the room she shared with Kerone, asking her advice about the best way to tell Andros that she was leaving--

"TJ, did you bring the ketchup with you?" Kerone asked, glancing over her shoulder.

"If I had," TJ shot back, "would I share it with you?"

Kerone flashed her most winning smile. "I'd give you some of my friend mushrooms..."

Ashley hesitated, glancing back at the others. This was just as real as the memories in her mind. Who was to say that her dream was any more important than school? It could just as easily be a trick, some sort of evil plot to lure her away from her friends. And yet--

She had seen that key before, and it meant something. Maybe that was all she really needed to know. Her instincts said there was something more, and if she couldn't trust her instincts than she couldn't trust herself.

She heard someone call after her as she headed toward the key, but she didn't turn around.

***

Kerone stared around in surprise, turning over the possibilities in her mind. Everything she could see sparkled with magic, a shimmering violet that outlined every person and object in sight. There were two explanations that encompassed the phenomenon quite thoroughly: either it was her magic, or it wasn't.

If it was her magic, then she had created everything she was seeing. If it wasn't her magic, then someone else had created it. Either way, this wasn't real. Or at least, it was real only in her mind--or someone else's. It was indisputably not the reality she had just left, because there the only thing that had a magic tint was her reflection.

Given that she was now in a different reality from her previous one, she faced the question of why. She remembered a key, a Power quest, and an extremely recalcitrant brother from that other reality, and combined those things seemed as though they might explain why she found herself in such unusual circumstances.

On the other hand, those memories could be false, or a product of either this place or the process that had brought her here. If that were true, she would be better off to ignore them. However, since she had nothing to take their place and no more reason to write them off than to remember them, she might as well remember them.

She studied her surroundings, somewhat amused by the contrast with her previous reality. Could she do any harm by interacting with creations of her own mind? Or even someone else's? It would be an entertaining diversion, and it might even--

She recognized the key immediately and moved toward it without hesitation. Unlike everything else around her, it glowed with nothing but its own light. It did look slightly more yellow than she remembered, but it was, after all, surrounded by purple.

They key vanished the moment she touched it and so did her glittering violet reality. Zhane stood nearby, turning as though startled by her appearance. "That was fast," he remarked.

Kerone looked around with interest. "Where are we?" she wanted to know. "Where are the others?"

"We're in the morphin grid," Zhane answered. "The others are here, too, but I guess they're still being tested. They'll probably figure it out soon."

"Tested?" she repeated. "What kind of test?"

Zhane shrugged. "If it's the same thing I went through, it's just a kind of... commitment check or something. It's to see how much you really want the Power. You see something that makes you happy--maybe your perfect life, I don't know--and then you're reminded of the quest. You have to choose one or the other."

She couldn't help it. She laughed. "My perfect life, huh?" Shaking her head, she thought about it a moment longer. "I guess maybe it was, at that," she admitted with a grin.

"What did you see?" Zhane asked, mouth quirking at her humor.

"What did *you* see?" she countered.

He shrugged again, looking away. "I didn't see anything, this time. I don't know if it already tested my commitment or what. I don't even know if I'll get to keep my Power when this is all over or not. I guess I'm just along for the ride."

Kerone considered that, studying him carefully. He looked more resigned than worried, so she asked, "What happens if you see--whatever you see--and you choose that instead of the quest? What if you don't take the key when it appears?"

"Well, if it just sent you home, everyone would go on Power quests," Zhane pointed out wryly. "I assume you stay there, in your vision. Forever."

A rush of motion made her tense, and she spun in time to see a familiar figure coalesce out of nothingness. Literal nothingness, since the environment couldn't seem to make up its mind. Twice now she had gotten the impression of a park, but there was nothing identifiable in their Simudeck-like surroundings.

"Tell me that wasn't real," Ty demanded hoarsely.

"It wasn't real," Zhane obliged, sympathy written across his expression. "It was a test and you passed. It wasn't real at all."

Ty drew in a shuddering breath, obviously more affected than she had been. "It wasn't real," he muttered to himself. "Right..."

He glanced around, taking another deep breath. "Where are we?" he asked, a little more calmly.

"The morphin grid." Zhane followed his gaze, but his curiosity must have gotten the best of him because he commented casually, "You both made it pretty quickly."

Ty's jaw clenched, and Kerone saw his eyes narrow. "I spent a lot of time coming to terms with my lover's death," he gritted. "I refuse to let a stupid *quest* mess me up again."

Zhane only nodded, and his acceptance seemed to soothe Ty somewhat. The other boy relaxed slightly when his explanation went unchallenged, his eyes flickering toward Kerone. "You?" he asked abruptly. 

She doubted he'd meant to be so brusque, so she smiled a little in response. "Everything looked like magic," she said simply. "I knew it wasn't real as soon as I saw it."

Zhane gave her a sharp look. "What do you mean, it looked like magic?"

She snapped her fingers idly, then lifted her hands to inspect them as the violet glow swirled close and surrounded her. "Everything looked like this," she said, looking up to catch his eye. "Everything. The people, the things... the air almost glowed with it."

"Weird," Zhane said with a frown. "I wonder why."

"You said it was our perfect life," she reminded him. She saw Ty flinch out of the corner of her eye, and she regretted the choice of words. "If it was all a creation of my mind... maybe everything in my mind is magic."

Zhane stared at her for a moment, and his intent look made her wonder.

"Where did your magic come from?" Ty asked, beating him to the punch. "Were you born with it?"

"No." She glanced over at him. "My guardian, Ecliptor, arranged for me to inherit it from a friend of his. It's a part of me now--he said it would be until I died."

Ty frowned, but Zhane looked pensive. "Maybe you're right," he said at last. "Maybe your brain is wired to magic somehow. What do you see now?"

"Here?" Kerone shrugged. "Not much. Everything's sort of... vague."

"But not magic?" Zhane persisted.

She studied what she could make out of their surroundings, then shook her head. "No magic," she agreed. "Why?"

"Because the morphin grid looks different to everyone who sees it," Zhane said slowly. "Like the key. I figured if we make it look that way, each of us individually, maybe what you see would look like magic the same way your vision did."

"Guys?" Ashley's voice was barely a whisper, but it got everyone's attention instantly.

Zhane took a step toward her, looking as concerned as he had when Ty appeared. Kerone wondered idly whether she ought to feel slighted, but decided against it. She was fine, after all.

"Ash?" Zhane was asking. "You all right?"

"Yeah," she said, her voice stronger but still a little uncertain. "That was... really weird. Are--are you guys all right?"

Kerone smiled involuntarily. "I'm okay," she said when Ashley caught her eye.

"Yeah," Ty agreed, as though trying to convince himself. "Me too."

Zhane just shrugged. Kerone wasn't sure he would have answered if Ashley hadn't looked expectantly at him. "Didn't see anything," he told her. "I guess I get to skip the pre-test this time and get right to the hard stuff."

Ashley laughed, but it sounded more nervous than usual. "If that was the easy part, I can't wait for the hard stuff. Do we get to take the rest of the test together, at least?"

She sounded like she was half kidding, but Kerone couldn't help looking around. "Where's Andros?" she asked, when Zhane didn't answer. "He's pretty stubborn. You'd think he'd already be here with us."

Ashley's eyes widened, as though she had only just noticed him missing.

"No kidding," Zhane muttered ominously. "I expected him to be the first one out."

"Can we go after him?" Ashley demanded. "Is there any way to find him?"

"It hasn't been that long," Ty pointed out. "We just got here ourselves. He'll probably be here any minute."

Kerone exchanged worried glances with Ashley. It hadn't been that long, for them. But for Andros... Ashley was right; Andros was arguably the one person most committed to this quest. For him, it had been forever.

What could he be seeing that would be enough to keep him there?

***

*I don't think it counts as a vacation if you take all your friends,* Zhane said, the words reverberating in his mind. It was the only way to talk with the howl of the wind and whir of hovercars rushing around them.

*Shut up and drive,* Andros retorted. He would never admit that the way Zhane handled a bike scared him, not after Zhane had teased him countless times for his reckless piloting.

*In fact,* Zhane continued, undeterred, *I'm positive it doesn't. You have to leave either your friends or your job behind in order for it to be considered a vacation, and since we--*

Andros' eyes widened. *Zhane!*

Zhane swerved so sharply that the bike's rear left thrusters froze, and they lurched alarmingly to one side. For one brief moment, Andros was sure they were going into freefall, and then the oncoming traffic was bearing down on them too quickly to turn. He squeezed his eyes shut, his arms clenched in a deathgrip around Zhane's waist.

*Since neither of us can leave our jobs,* Zhane was saying when Andros realized they were still alive, *we'd have to leave our friends. Which we haven't done.*

When he dared to peer over Zhane's shoulder again, he saw the bike skidding around yet another high-speed hover in the shuttle lane, thrusters once more full throttle and in perfect working order. The gleam of black and red from somewhere up ahead suggested that they were closing the gap, and Andros bit his tongue and tried to loosen his grip a little. Zhane wouldn't let trivial things like life and death keep him from catching the other bike anyway.

*No,* he agreed, swallowing hard as Zhane dove under the bus in front of them. *We haven't. But we're not exactly working, either.*

*Speak for yourself!* Zhane retorted. *You think this is easy?*

Andros reminded himself to breathe. *I think if you hit someone the LO is going to ban you, Ranger privileges or not. That's what I think.*

*Like I would ever hit someone.* The black and red bike came into view again, and he added, *Except maybe them, but they could take it. I wouldn't hit a civilian.*

He managed to refrain from asking whether Zhane had taken into account the slower reflexes of the average civilian. Zhane might not hit them, but if his thrusters maxxed out again there was no way traffic would be able to avoid them. Dragging was forbidden in the Eltaran capitol for exactly that reason. 

Well, that and the fact that the people who did it tended to be lunatics with a death wish. That kind of person wasn't good for anyone's traffic pattern.

They drew even with the other bike for half a second before it dove, picking up momentum with the gravitational assist and darting ahead. Zhane's bike slid easily around an open-air shuttle, and he lifted a hand to wave as they accelerated away. Andros couldn't hear the passengers screaming after them, but he saw them waving wildly in return.

*I'm sure it's much more glamorous when you're watching from the sidelines,* he complained, intending for Zhane to overhear.

*You'd rather be on one of those things?* Contempt for the slower vehicle colored Zhane's thoughts. *Please.*

Andros' stomach dropped out from under him as the bike fell like a stone, leaving the grid and dropping toward the one beneath without the slightest warning. The traffic above shrank even as the vehicles below raced up to greet them, threatening a hundred different collisions in the space of a single heartbeat. If he'd had time to think, Andros would have thought they were going to die.

Luckily he didn't, and the bike swarmed into the faster flow without a second's hesitation. Grid switching, too, was expressly forbidden, and Andros wished he dared to close his eyes again. But Zhane's driving was just too horrifying not to watch.

*Take that!* Zhane crowed, dodging crazily as he poured on the thrust once more. It took several long seconds before Andros realized what had happened, and he risked a glance over his shoulder to make sure.

The black and red bike was right behind them, riding their thruster wake. The driver, despite his tinted visor and invisible expression, looked extremely ticked. And his bike looked meaner from the front.

*Zhane,* Andros began, facing forward again and immediately burying his face in Zhane's shoulder to avoid the view. *Are you sure--*

Then the bike was falling again, and he could *not* bring himself to look up. He just couldn't do it. He hung on for dear life until he felt the heavy press of gravity again, increasing as they skidded to a hard stop with a screech and flash of silver light. The flash was visible even through his eyelids. He would have scolded Zhane for showing off if he'd been able to speak.

Opening his eyes slowly, he drew an unsteady breath and gathered enough courage to look around. They were parked sideways just outside the Tower's rooftop skyport, and Zhane's bike had ended up nearly perpendicular to their competition. The other bike had landed with less attitude and more finesse, leaving no skid marks when it came to rest in the exact middle of the allotted landing strip.

The driver pulled his helmet off, shaking his unruly hair loose as the girl behind him followed suit. "Congratulations," Saryn said, pinning Zhane with an icy stare that belied his words. "I concede the race."

Cassie laughed, sliding off the bike behind him with enviable grace. "You don't have to sound so bitter about it," she chided. Her eyes sparkled as she grinned at Andros and Zhane. "He'll forgive you eventually."

"Let's go inside," Zhane said quickly, putting a hand on Andros' shoulder to steady himself as he stood up. "There are more witnesses in there."

Andros chuckled, taking the other side of the bike as they headed into the skyport. Zhane flipped the stabilizer on as soon as they found a space, and Saryn looked more honestly neutral by the time he and Cassie joined them. He wasn't such a bad loser, if it came to that, but losing to Zhane... Andros knew that annoyed him more than anything.

The four of them headed in through the "ground" floor Tower entrance, on a level with the roof, and it took some time to find their friends. Cassie finally spotted Ashley and Carlos waving from one of the far windows, and they angled in that direction. The popular capitol café was crowded today, and Andros suspected it was only their Ranger insignia that had gotten them a large booth by the windows.

He and Zhane slid in next to Ashley and Kerone, while Saryn and Cassie joined Carlos and TJ on the other side of the table. Their friends were already eating, but TJ flagged a server down almost instantly. Andros grinned as Zhane poked him in the side, whispering something about the menu, and he leaned over to steal from Ashley's plate while he waited.

*Andros, get out of there!*

Andros stiffened, giving Zhane an alarmed look. *What did you say?*

"I said, should I get the large size or what?" Zhane repeated. "If you're going to eat half my food anyway, I might as well get enough for both of us."

*Andros, this isn't funny. If you don't get back here right now, I'm sending Kerone in after you.*

"What are you talking about?" Andros demanded.

"I'm talking about what you're doing right now!" Zhane exclaimed, pointing at Ashley's plate. "You're such a food hog! I'm just making sure there'll be something left for me when you're done."

*Okay, she says she doesn't know how to do it. But I'm pretty sure she's lying, so don't make me find out the hard way!*

Andros pressed a hand to his temple instinctively. "Why are you yelling at me?" he muttered, shaking his head in a futile effort to clear it.

"What do you mean?" Zhane slid closer, instantly solicitous. "Are you all right? Does your head hurt? I should have been more careful with the g-forces out there."

"No..." Andros squeezed his eyes shut, not sure how to explain. It was Zhane's voice... but it wasn't. Zhane was right here. "It's not that."

*Andros, whatever you're seeing isn't real.* The voice in his head had taken on a desperate edge. *You're on a quest for the Power, and it's testing you. You have to want the Power more than whatever it's showing you. You have to want us more.*

*I do want you,* he protested automatically. *What are you talking about?*

*Andros!*

The voice in his mind was echoed by one at the table, and he opened his eyes to find Zhane's concerned blue eyes staring back at him. "What's wrong? Is it the people? Do you want to go somewhere quieter?"

"No," he repeated weakly. "I'm okay. It's just--"

*Andros, please!* The voice wasn't going away. If anything, it was getting stronger. *Listen to me! Can you see the key anywhere? You have to find it. The key is the only way back.*

*I saw a... key.* The words were halting, but he still wasn't entirely sure what was going on. Was this the Zhane from his dream? Why did he sound so real? *I think it--it went away.*

*You ignored it? Why?* Zhane sounded torn between shock and anguish, and the raw hurt in those words brought tears to his eyes. *Do you hate me that much?*

"No!" The word came out as a whisper. He braced his elbows on the table and put his head in his hands, trying to block out the other voices around him. *I love you, Zhane. You know that.*

*Then why won't you come back? Why don't you want to be with me... with us?*

It was impossible to edit thoughts the way one could change spoken words, but Andros got the distinct impression that the voice hadn't meant to say that. He only shook his head, aware of a possessive arm around his shoulders and a comforting hand on his arm. *I do want to be with you. There's nothing I want more.*

*Then _don't leave me!_* Zhane cried. *Get back here! _Now!_*

An image of the key flooded his mind, overwhelming him and suppressing conscious thought. He knew Zhane was projecting the image onto him, but for the life of him he couldn't think why. All he could do was accept it, trust, and follow without question. He had done it before, and he would do it now. Because there was no other choice.

The key was everything he could see. The dream was coming back to him: reluctantly, grudgingly, and piecemeal, but it was there. Vaguely he remembered defeating Dark Spectre, going to KO-35, alienating Zhane and the others, and finally setting off in search of new powers. It seemed foggy and indistinct compared to the reality of the café, but slowly it occurred to him that he wasn't in the café any longer.

That was when he realized that the only thing he was really sure of was the image of the key. That and Zhane's voice, which he reached for frantically as the entire world shifted around him. *Don't leave!*

*I'm not the one who left,* the voice answered, and it sounded so angry that Andros wanted to cry. *I left you once, Andros! You've done it to me three times now!*

To his surprise, he found his body responded when he tried to flinch away. It was a jerky and uncoordinated recoil, but it was something. It was too much. He found himself grasping desperately for something, anything solid, gasping for breath as he reached out into nothingness.

Someone grabbed his hand, holding him steady, and his panic ebbed a little. Only when he opened his eyes did he realize he could, and he found himself staring into Zhane's. If he could have moved, he would have thrown himself into the Silver Ranger's arms. "Zhane," he breathed, surprised to find his voice so faint. *What happened?*

"You almost failed the test, that's what happened!" Zhane's voice was choked with fury, and Andros understood suddenly that Dream Zhane wasn't a dream at all. Dream Zhane was real, and he was mad. He was really mad. At Andros.

"I'm sorry," Andros whispered, letting his head fall to the side. If the dream was real... then nothing else had been. Not the Megaship, not Eltare--not Zhane.

"You should be!" Dream Zhane shouted, his voice cracking. "This was your idea, Andros! It was your stupid idea, and if you go and die I'll kill you! I'll kill you Andros, I swear I will!"

"I think he gets the picture, Zhane." Ashley's soft voice intruded, and he closed his eyes for a moment. They were on a quest. He and Zhane and Ashley. And Kerone. And... someone else. They were looking for new powers, because--

Because he had given up the old ones? No, he had given them to someone. To... TJ. No, not TJ, but maybe the "who" didn't matter so much. He was here, with the others, and they had gotten him back when he almost gave up. That was what mattered.

Andros opened his eyes again as it slowly dawned on him that he was lying in someone's lap. Zhane. He was lying in Zhane's lap, and the Silver Ranger was holding him in a very undignified way. He supposed one was allowed to be undignified when one had almost died, but still...

He struggled to sit up, letting Zhane help him until he was supporting himself again. Only then did he dare glance back at Zhane's face, bracing himself for what he would see there. The memory of the other Zhane's expression was still vivid in his mind.

It was with a shock that he took in the tearstained cheeks and too-bright eyes, already turning away to hide their shame. Andros caught his chin without thinking, forcing Zhane to look at him. "Don't," he breathed, watching Zhane close his eyes.

Those blue eyes flickered open again, and the pain he saw there took his breath away. It was a familiar hurt and somehow he knew it was up to him to fix it. There was only one thing he could say, one thing that seemed to stand out through the haze of double memories clouding his mind. 

"I love you," Andros whispered, leaning in to seal the words with a kiss.

_fin_


	14. Pass Fail

_Disclaimer: I love thunder. Do you ever have days where you get to the end and wonder, "What just happened?" Sometimes my days start out like that, and it makes me laugh. If life came with an instruction manual, we'd need 623 separate enforcement agencies to make sure people followed it. SOPTR. _

**Pass Fail  
by Starhawk**

It was the guilty look on Zhane's face that did it. That and the fact that he pushed Andros away, glancing awkwardly in her direction before averting his gaze. It frankly wouldn't have surprised Ashley to see the two of them kiss; they were that close. But Zhane's response wasn't the reaction of a best friend to a casual embrace.

Andros only looked confused, and for a moment she hoped his words had been as innocent as she'd thought. Maybe it was only Zhane that had read something more into them... but when Andros caught her eye, alarm flickered across his face, and there was no denying the source of the tension between the two Rangers.

In that single heart-wrenching instant, she knew she'd lost him.

Ashley turned away and came face to face with a set of fangs bigger than her head. She stared for a moment, her brain frantically trying to catch up with her eyes. Smooth, pointed, very white, very large--

Teeth! She heard Zhane yell for his Super Silverizer and the crackle of Astronema's staff reminded her that Kerone's reflexes were impossibly fast for a non-Ranger. She herself was frozen to the ground, conscious of the flash and snap of weapons' fire behind her but equally aware that the fangs only inches from her face hadn't budged in the slightest.

She couldn't breathe. She lifted her eyes, very slowly, and flinched back from the narrowed golden slits staring down at her. She turned her head to the side instinctively, reacting more to the impression of "feline" than "monster". Baring her neck in as unthreatening a posture as she could manage, she prayed that she was gaining rather than wasting valuable seconds.

Its paw came up to her knees. Ashley swallowed hard, realizing that its claws were fully extended and half-buried in the ground at her feet. How something that big had managed to sneak up on them--several somethings that big, from the sound of things behind her--she had no idea. But they certainly weren't in any hurry to leave.

A low rumbling sound made her cringe, until she realized she wasn't sure whether the thing looming over her was growling or purring. Drawing in a slow, unsteady breath, she let it out in an inquiring purr-mimic. She felt silly as soon as she did it, but it had always made the kittens lift their tails in greeting.

The golden eyes blinked lazily, eyelids drooping and then lifting again in an expression that was somewhere between startled and appreciative. The creature lowered its giant head further, the fangs disappearing as it butted its nose against her face. The impact was enough to knock her to the ground, and the eyes stared down at her curiously as she tried to catch her breath again.

*Andros!* There was no other way he'd hear her over the sound of battle. Battle... she flinched as she realized that Zhane and Kerone had probably provoked the creatures, however accidentally, by drawing their weapons. *They're not the enemy!*

With a roar, the arm length claws retracted long enough for a colossal paw to lift itself off the ground, and the claws flashed out again as the creature took a swipe at her. It was an easy gesture, almost casual in its deadliness. She squeezed her eyes shut.

The sound of crunching metal and an agonized whine penetrated her consciousness before the fact that she was still alive. Her eyes flew open, and she found the bulk of an angry cat still towering over her. But its attention was directed past her, and when it lashed out again the grinding of metal was proceeded by a tremendous boom.

She scrambled to her feet and whirled, eyes wide as she took in the formerly peaceful scene. Andros and Zhane stood back to back, blades flashing against wave after wave of foot soldiers. Ty was crouched off to one side, a stungun braced on his right arm while Kerone and her staff guarded his back. There were velocifighters everywhere.

Even as she watched, her unexpected guardian downed another of the little fighter ships, setting off an explosion that blew an impressive hole in the foot soldiers' ranks. She caught sight of three or four more fanged behemoths, but they were making no effort to aid her or the others. They weren't participating at all, aside from the occasional and apparently indiscriminate potshot whenever something got too close.

A single quantron got past Kerone. Ashley saw Ty falter, and she ran for him without conscious thought. Her slingshot materialized in her hand but Kerone was faster, swinging her staff over Ty's head and launching an arc of lethal electricity designed to give them both some breathing room. Ty's weapon started picking off soldiers again, causing explosions that were most decidedly not the typical results of a stungun.

Three velocifighters swooped in, disintegrating the moment they passed above Kerone, and Ashley's eyes widened. Then the ones heading for her fell victim to another paw strike, and she realized the ground was shaking from more than the crash of ships and quantron explosions. The cat was following her.

She didn't even see Andros and Zhane coming but suddenly they were almost on top of her, silverizer and sabre in perfect synch as they took up a flanking position to the cat's right. "Get Kerone!" Andros yelled to her, and she spun her slingshot in the sorceress' direction.

The bolts of yellow lightning made Kerone whirl, her staff fairly snapping with energy as she sought the source of this new threat. When she caught sight of Ashley she shouted something over her shoulder to Ty, and he started to back up without turning. Zhane and Andros ventured out of the cat's protective sphere long enough to run cover for them as Ashley turned her weapon upward, helping her protector to clear the sky.

There were fewer velocifighters than she had originally thought, because the sky did clear and she had at first thought it a hopeless task. Her arm was on fire with the strain by the time she had a moment to think again, and her muscles screamed in protest as she dropped into a defensive crouch. She had counted on the others to watch the ground even as they trusted her to fend off the air attack, and now it was time to finish the job.

The ground was clear. The sparkle of Andros' last strike was fading by the time she managed to take it in, and when the final quantron threatening him dropped they all shimmered into nothingness. Every fallen foot soldier and piece of wreckage vanished as though it had never been, except for the ache in her body and the lingering presence of her Star Slinger.

"Man," Ty said, breaking the silence with a sharp exhalation of disgust. He tossed his weapon to the ground and folded his arms in protest, though a wince belied the ease of his movement. "The last test was a lot more comfortable."

His irreverent grouchiness made Ashley laugh, but it was a breathy giggle that even she knew was tinged with hysteria. "No one said being a Ranger was easy," she reminded him, rolling her shoulders in a futile effort to deepen her breathing. The last thing they needed was for someone to pass out *without* enemy intervention.

"Is everyone all right?" Andros demanded, his eyes pinning each one of them in turn as though he could draw the answer out of them without words. It might have been her imagination that made her think he stared at Zhane a little longer than the rest of them, but then, he was the only one who didn't return Andros' gaze when it was offered.

"I'm fine," Kerone answered, and she sounded it. Of all of them, she was the only one who seemed perfectly collected. She wasn't even out of breath. "Ty?"

"I'm all right," he agreed quickly. He reached up to scrub sweat from his eyes, making no effort to hide his exhaustion. "Thanks for keeping me alive out there."

"Thank you," Kerone countered. She was giving him an appraising look. "You're a good shot."

"Ash?" Andros asked impatiently. He hadn't given Ty more than a cursory inspection, and now all his attention was focused on her. "You okay?"

She nodded, but she wasn't sure how to answer beyond that. When their eyes met she saw only a concerned leader, not a solicitous boyfriend, and though he had always adopted that persona in battle she wasn't sure she liked it right now. Why wouldn't Zhane look at anyone?

"I'm okay," she said at last, but her voice sounded too quiet even to her. "You?"

"Yeah." He was staring at her with frank curiosity. "How did you know about the cat?"

She saw Kerone look over at that, and even Ty lifted his head. Ashley shrugged self-consciously. "I didn't," she admitted. "I just didn't have any choice. It was too close for me to shoot..." 

She glanced around, noticing the gigantic creature's absence for the first time. "I think if it had gone for me I would have tried to run, but it didn't. Which is good," she added ruefully, "because I wouldn't have gotten very far. So I didn't move, and it didn't move, and then all of a sudden it was smashing velocifighters."

"We'll have to be more careful about who we assume is the enemy here," Kerone murmured thoughtfully. "Have you ever seen anything like that, Zhane?"

"No." Zhane response was as curt as Andros' had been moments before.

"Where are we, anyway?" Ty asked, studying their surroundings. It was hard to tell if he was really distracted by the environment or just pretending to be, but either way it got their attention.

"The desert outside the Power Chamber," Ashley offered.

At the same time, Andros answered, "The Mega V base."

She gave him a surprised look, only to find him frowning at her in confusion. "Where?"

"Our old Turbo base," she said, pointing toward the ruins. "It was destroyed by Divatox a couple of years ago. I know you're not very good with landmarks," she added, unable to resist, "but even you can tell the difference between sand and moon dust."

Andros gave her the Look, and her lips twitched. "I know you don't know much about space," he retorted, "but I thought even you would recognize a place you've been a hundred times before. The Mega Vs are right there," he said, pointing in the same direction she had just indicated.

"Excuse me," Ty interjected, almost idly. "I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm definitely not seeing whatever you're seeing. This looks like an old rec site, to me. Maybe even the eastern headquarters; it's hard to tell.

"Astrea?" Ty turned to her when they both gave him baffled looks. "Back me up here."

Kerone shook her head slowly. "Sorry," she said, frowning a little. "I still don't see anything. It looks like the Simudeck when it's shuffling programs or something."

"You don't see anything at all?" Zhane seemed to take an interest in the conversation for the first time. "When you said 'not much' before, I didn't think you meant literally nothing."

"But you saw the quantrons," Ashley protested. "Right? You fought them!"

Kerone gave her an odd look. "Quantrons?"

"You saw quantrons?" Andros repeated. "I thought we were fighting cogs and spitters."

Ashley threw up her hands. "I don't even know what spitters are!"

"They're the things that were flying at us from the rafters," Andros said with a sigh. "The things you were shooting at?"

"I was shooting at velocifighters!"

They both looked to Kerone, but she just shrugged. "I thought they were militia troops. Possessed, of course," she added quickly when Andros glared at her.

There was a sound suspiciously like a chuckle, and Andros turned his glare on Zhane. "Well?" he said sharply. He didn't sound particularly pleased to find his best friend laughing at them.

Zhane shrugged, as casually as Kerone but with the boneless grace that was, for him, an unmistakable sign of fatigue. "We're in the morphin grid," he said, as though that answered all their questions. "It's not a physical place, so everyone perceives it differently. That's just the way it is."

"Some people would argue that the universe isn't a physical place," Ty put in unexpectedly. He gave Zhane an inquisitive look, as though he had asked a question instead of making a statement.

Zhane looked back at him in surprise. "I'd say that everyone perceives the universe differently, too," he remarked, studying Ty as though he had never seen him before. "But here we can put the differences we see into words that mean something to the other person."

"Did everyone see the cats?" Andros interrupted. "We need to be able to agree on something, here."

__

Mrrow, Ashley thought, then bit her lip to repress a giggle. It gave her some small amount of satisfaction to see Andros so easily ruffled by Ty. Andros had never been one to turn philosophical in times of crisis. Or ever, for that matter.

"I did," Kerone said, surprising her.

Ty nodded in agreement, but Zhane was staring toward the horizon again. He did a good impression of being bored for someone who had just been on the verge of debating the nature of existence with his fr--lover. She mentally corrected herself, ignoring the part of her that wanted to rail at Zhane for turning everything upside down. There would be time for that later... and if there wasn't, well, her world would be a simpler place.

"Zhane?" Andros' voice was dangerous. The avoidance routine was obviously wearing thin fast.

"Yeah." It was impossible to tell from Zhane's tone whether he was answering the question or just acknowledging Andros' presence.

Andros narrowed his eyes, but he persisted. "Yes, you saw the cats?"

"Well, thanks for letting me know," Zhane commented lightly. There was a flicker of amusement in his eyes, but he still didn't lower his gaze from the horizon. "Why did you bother asking?"

"Zhane, did you see the cats or not?" Kerone wanted to know.

He didn't move, not even to glance in her direction. "Why yes, Astrea, I did."

"What do you see now?" she asked matter-of-factly, ignoring Andros' furious expression.

He hesitated, and for a moment Ashley wasn't sure he would answer. Finally, though, he replied, "The old Astro Hangar in Keyota."

That didn't mean anything to Ashley, but she saw Andros turn away abruptly. Kerone frowned, but all she said was, "Well, since the rest of you can see, you probably have a better idea of which way we should go than I do. Unless we're just supposed to stay here until we get attacked again?"

Her tone was so doubtful that Ashley thought she might be serious. And when it came right down to it, she didn't have any better idea what was expected of them than Kerone did. Ty too was at a loss, and Andros didn't seem to care, so that left only one person.

"Zhane?" Ashley prompted uncertainly. "Should we stay or go?"

"Go." He didn't seem to have any doubt. "We have to find the Power ourselves, not wait for it to trip over us. Who has the key?"

Ashley and Kerone exchanged puzzled glances, but then Ty's voice interrupted, sounding just as confused as she felt. "Uh... I guess I do."

Ashley looked over at him just in time to see him pulling the key out of his pocket, and he added, "How did that happen?"

"It must like you," Zhane said flippantly. "Throw it up in the air."

Ty looked startled. "What, straight up? Why?"

Zhane shrugged. "Why not?"

Ty actually smiled at that. "That's what I like about you, Zhane. You're always there with the answers."

"Sure am," Zhane agreed with a grin. "They're not always good ones, but I have plenty of them."

Ty tossed the key casually, just a quick jerk of his wrist, fingers still extended to catch it when it fell. It didn't fall. Instead it burst into a white glow and streaked away, zipping past Ashley too swiftly for her to register much at all and then disappearing into the faroff horizon.

"Looks like we're going that way," Zhane said cheerfully.

Ty gave him a suspicious look. "Did you know that would happen?"

Zhane smirked at him. "How impressed would you be if I said yes?"

"If we're going to follow the key then let's go," Andros interrupted. "It's only getting farther ahead of us the longer we stand around talking."

"Can we really 'find' the Power?" Kerone asked, as she fell into step behind Andros. He had turned away without waiting to see whether anyone would follow, and she seemed to be doing her best to smooth the rough edges between them. "I thought we wouldn't get it until we'd proven ourselves 'worthy' or something."

Ashley could practically hear the quote marks around the words. She wondered suddenly how Andros had talked her into coming at all: Kerone had always claimed she didn't want the Power. What had changed her mind?

"Semantics," Zhane said shortly, and Ashley blinked. He'd gone from careless to irritated in the space of a heartbeat, and to top it off he was using words like "semantics". She'd swear that lately he was getting more moody every time she saw him.

Of course, if the look he'd given Andros earlier was any indication, he had reason. She swallowed hard and tried not to think about it. _Don't blame Zhane,_ her mind chanted, over and over again. She wasn't sure it was working.

"That's not an answer," Kerone was saying. "Could you use that word in a sentence?"

"We prove ourselves worthy by finding the Power?" Ty guessed, trailing a little on Zhane's other side. "Or are you using 'prove' and 'find' interchangeably?"

"I'm not using them at all," Zhane pointed out. His tone had softened, but he still sounded a bit churlish. "Those are Astrea's words. I'm only here because she said 'please'."

Andros was walking quickly, but long practice had taught her how to overtake him when she had to. Under cover of Ty and Kerone's questions, she caught up to Andros and matched his stride as closely as she could. The desert terrain was surprisingly even in this direction, and the stone was easier underfoot than sand and scrub. She wondered briefly what the others were walking on.

"Hey," she said quietly, when Andros didn't seem inclined to speak.

He glanced sideways at her, and she smiled a little. His mouth quirked, but his eyes didn't change. "Hey."

"Want to talk about it?" she offered.

Andros was silent for a moment, and she ducked to avoid a wind-shaped tree that she was sure hadn't been in her way before. If they all saw something different, did that mean it could change at a moment's notice? She didn't think so, but then there were the quantrons, and the cats, and her Star Slinger for that matter. It was gone and she hadn't even noticed when it disappeared.

"Do you?" he asked at last.

"Yeah," she said softly, staring down at the ground. Just so she wouldn't trip over any fast-appearing rocks, she told herself. Not to avoid his gaze. "I kind of do."

She got the distinct impression of a shrug from him. "Okay."

She should have known better than to expect him to volunteer anything. "What did you see in your vision?" she asked, trying a different tact.

"I saw us," he answered neutrally. "All of us, together on the Megaship. The Astro Rangers--the old Astro Rangers--and Kerone and Saryn."

She couldn't repress a smile. "I saw all of us at college together. Kerone tried to cheat us out of money on our dinner order."

"You and she were plotting to take over the universe in mine," Andros responded, and she could hear a hint of real humor in his voice.

"Not really," she said, glancing at him skeptically. "Really?

She thought he almost smiled. "You were kidding. At least I think you were. She was pretty convincing."

Looking back, Ashley saw Kerone and Ty lagging a little farther behind with Zhane. They were still talking, arguing by the looks of it, but there were clearly two groups now instead of one. It gave them the semblance of privacy.

"Ash..." Andros sounded troubled again, and she moved a little closer. He too was aware of the others, and he glanced over his shoulder before looking over at her. "I want you," he said, studying her intently. She was clearly supposed to hear more in that than he had said.

"You have me," she reminded him, trying to keep her voice even.

He sighed, and it was a frustrated sound rather than a relieved one. "In my vision... for some reason, in my vision, I was with Zhane."

There was nothing easy about this, but there was no avoiding it either. "You love him," she said softly. It was all she could do to sound supportive and sympathetic, when what she really wanted to do was tell him that the vision was meaningless and of course he wasn't supposed to be with Zhane. Andros was hers.

"I've always loved him," Andros muttered, as though it was a given. "Not like this. In the vision, I saw us... we were the way we used to be. But it was now. We weren't kids anymore, and it--it meant more than it used to."

The admission of love from Andros made her heart ache. Once, she had been the only "always" he knew. But Zhane had prior claim, and with that knowledge it was painfully clear to her what must have happened. The boys' fierce and exclusive dependence on each other had led to more than just friendship, and three years hadn't been enough to snuff out the memory of that childhood romance. Now that they were old enough to define it, their relationship was tearing Zhane apart even as Andros tried to deny it.

"You grew up," she said quietly. There was nothing she could do to conceal the regret in her voice. She had never believed "change" had to mean "loss", but lately the two seemed to be all but synonymous. "It happens."

"I grew up to be with you!" Andros protested, his voice low enough not to carry but harsh enough to be vehement. "Zhane was gone! I fell in love with you, and that hasn't changed, any more than--"

He broke off, his eyes widening as he came to an abrupt halt. She tensed, scanning their surroundings for any sign of a hostile force. She came up empty, and with a sinking sensation she knew that his shock came from within, not without.

"Anymore than the way you felt about him?" Ashley filled in the rest of the sentence for him, and he turned wondering eyes on her.

"He must hate me," Andros breathed. Anguish crept into his expression, and he added, "You must hate me. God," he whispered, closing his eyes. "Why am I so stupid?"

She heard footsteps encroaching on their space, and she tipped her head to one side in a silent "go on" gesture. Kerone nodded once, passing them without question, and Ty followed. Zhane gave them each a worried look, but he too passed without a word. 

Would she have been able to do as much if it had been him? Until today she would have said yes, but now she felt a flare of jealousy at the mere thought of Zhane comforting her boyfriend. How many times must Zhane have repressed that same feeling? It was a wonder he could even speak to her, let alone consider her a friend.

When she glanced back at Andros, she found him staring after the others as well. The stricken look on his face hadn't faded, and she reached out to touch his cheek gently. "I don't hate you, Andros. This isn't your fault."

"Can't blame it on anyone else," he muttered, lowering his gaze to glare at the ground. "I'm such an idiot." 

His chagrin couldn't conceal the wistfulness in his voice when he added, "He's waited for me all this time... and when he finally brings someone else home I act like he's betrayed me."

"You didn't realize," she said quietly. It hurt that he worried for Zhane and not her, but she reassured him as best she could and tried not to let it show.

"I didn't want to realize," he corrected, looking up to search her expression. "I had you, and I love you so much... Maybe I thought I could have both."

She didn't know what he saw as his hazel eyes bored into hers. It must have been some echo of her true feelings, though, because he concluded in a whisper, "But I can't, can I."

"You'll never lose me as a friend," she murmured. She had to fight to get the words out past the lump in her throat. "But I can't share my boyfriend, Andros. I just can't."

He looked frightened as he asked softly, "Not even with Zhane?"

"I'm sorry," she whispered, looking away. The expression on his face was as heartbreaking as the words. "I don't think I can do it."

There was a shout from up ahead. They were moving before she had identified the voice, but it sounded like Zhane and the thrill of adrenaline lifted some of the heaviness from her heart. They should have known better than to let the group divide like that. She berated herself even as they ran to catch up.

"Whoa!" Zhane caught her arm and yanked her to a halt, causing her to stumble back from a precipice that she hadn't been able to see until she was almost on top of it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ty hauling Andros back as well.

"We're not getting past it that way," Zhane was telling her. "I did think of that, but it's not really jumpable."

The canyon before them looked almost as wide as the Megaship was long. She stared at it in dismay, wondering how long it would take them to climb all the way down--and worse, back out again. They certainly wouldn't be going around.

"Where's the key?" Zhane asked, jolting her out of her distress. "Someone must have it. Astrea?"

"It's not me," Kerone reported. "Is it supposed to show up when we have to make a decision?"

"It's supposed to guide us." He looked at her, and Ashley slid her hands into her pockets quickly. "It won't tell us how to get there, but it should show us where to go."

Somewhat to her surprise, her searching fingers encountered the resistance and she pulled the key out in surprise. "I have it," she said, looking to Zhane for direction. "Do I throw it again?"

He only shrugged. "Can't hurt."

Ashley bounced it against her palm, and as soon as she let go of the key it took off again. It arrowed straight across the canyon and vanished in a flash of light. There was no question about which way they were supposed to go, but how to get there was another matter.

"So what's the problem, again?" Kerone wanted to know. "What do you see?"

Zhane gave her a look of sheer disbelief. "You don't see this, either?"

"See what?" she demanded. "You act like there's a giant hole in the floor or something."

"To us there is," Ty put in ruefully. "You're lucky you can't see it. There's a pretty substantial ravine about four steps from where you're standing."

Ashley glanced at Andros out of habit, and she found him looking back. "How could she have seen the soldiers if she can't see this?" he wondered aloud.

"They were an active threat instead of a passive one?" she suggested, frowning. It was the only thing she could think of. "I don't know why that would make a difference."

"Astrea!" Ty's gasp got everyone's attention.

Ashley looked up and froze where she was. Kerone was still four steps from the precipice. The only difference was that she was now four steps on the other side, standing on thin air with an enviable disregard for gravity.

"There's nothing here," she insisted, looking a little impatient with their obvious shock. "Whatever you're seeing can't be real. Maybe it's another trick, like the visions."

"Some trick!" Ty's eyes were wide, but he didn't back away the way Ashley would have liked to.

"Zhane?" The Silver Ranger had moved a little closer to the edge, and Kerone was looking at him expectantly. 

He took a deep breath, then shrugged once. "Why not, right?" 

"Zhane--" Andros broke off as Zhane took a step, and then another, and his feet didn't follow the sharp drop of the land. The Silver Ranger kept his eyes on Kerone as the gorge fell away underneath him. He remained suspended in midair, as though traversing an invisible bridge.

"Nice," Ty breathed. He followed more hesitantly, watching the ground as though determined to catch the exact moment when it changed.

Ashley caught Andros' eye, and he smiled ruefully. "Or maybe she can't see it because it isn't there."

She shook her head, unable to brush it off so easily. "Looks like it's there to me," she murmured. "Heights are one thing, but this..."

"I know." He held out his hand to her, and she hesitated. His smile faded, and his expression was unreadable as he asked softly, "Do you trust me?"

She swallowed hard. "Yeah," Ashley whispered. She took his hand, letting him draw her closer to him--and to the edge of the cliff. "You know I do."

Andros stepped out into the air.

A jerk on her hand brought her stumbling after him, and she glared at him reflexively. His lips twitched, but he did his best to look repentant. "Sorry," he said, clearly fighting to hide a smile. "You okay?"

She couldn't help looking down, and she caught her breath. Closing her eyes, she nodded once. "Fine," she muttered. Only when his fingers squeezed hers in return did she realize how hard she was holding on to his hand.

"Keep walking," Andros urged. A hint of humor entered his voice when he added, "I won't let you bump into anything."

She almost smiled. "Thanks. That's very reassuring."

"Since when are you afraid of heights?" Zhane demanded, and she felt him falling into step on her other side. "Every time I turn around you're jumping off of something. Or skating at the skyport! I'd have given you stronger antigravs if I'd known what you and Kerone were going to do with them."

"This is *not* the skyport," Ashley informed him. She almost opened her eyes, but common sense won out and she kept them shut. "And I'm not afraid of heights. It's falling from them and breaking into millions of pieces that worries me."

"So you're saying you trust your skates to keep you from falling more than you trust me?" Andros sounded downright amused. "Now I know where I stand."

Ashley squeezed his hand in reproof. "Shut up," she muttered, trying not to smile. "You're not helping."

"He's doing better than Zhane," Kerone remarked. "Even I know you're not supposed to ask people about their fears when they're confronted with them."

"Since when has that stopped you?" Zhane wanted to know.

"Since you flipped out on me in a Mega V zord in the middle of a sandstorm," she shot back.

There was silence for a moment, and Ashley got the distinct impression that Kerone hadn't let that slip by accident. The sorceress could be provoked, but it wasn't as easy as it had once been. She had said what she said on purpose, not because Zhane had made her mad.

"Scared of sand?" Ashley murmured, smiling a little to show that she was teasing. She hadn't forgotten the other Zhane's reaction to tunnels on Eltare.

"No." Zhane sounded uncomfortable, but he didn't change the subject. "Small spaces, actually. I got stuck in one a long time ago, and the fear never really went away."

"What about you, Tixe?" Andros' tone was a little too casual. "Scared of anything?"

"You," Ty replied immediately, and Ashley had to giggle.

Zhane chuckled too, but Andros sounded disgruntled when he muttered, "Don't be ridiculous. I'm not frightening."

"Ecliptor would disagree," Kerone commented, which only set Zhane off again.

"You can open your eyes," Andros said, deliberately ignoring them. "We're on visible ground again."

She did as he suggested, and sure enough the canyon was behind them. Or it was behind them for a brief moment, about as long as it took her to register the fact that they had actually crossed it. Then it began to ripple and fill, smoothing into solid ground even as she watched, and soon there was nothing to show that there had ever been an obstacle there.

"I'm not sure whether it's reassuring to see these things vanish or not," Ty said at last. "It's like what we did doesn't matter."

"Sometimes that's the way it is," Zhane pointed out. "I guess we have nothing to show for a lot of the things we do in our lives. That doesn't make them less important."

"That's what scares me," Andros said abruptly. She looked at him in surprise, but he was frowning down at the ground where the gorge had been. "I think that's what my fear is."

It was Zhane that responded first. "Not having anything to show for your life?"

"No..." Andros didn't look up. "Not mattering." He shrugged self-consciously, but his voice was distant. "What if I died and it didn't matter?"

"That's crazy," Zhane told him. "Of course it would matter!"

Finally, Andros lifted his head and favored Zhane with a half-smile. "No one said fear was logical," he said quietly.

They stared at each other for a long moment, until Kerone broke the quiet with a curiously innocent tone. "I'm afraid of sleeping with aliens," she offered. "Do you suppose that counts?"

Ashley couldn't help it. She laughed, and Kerone's deadpan expression melted away. "Well," the other girl said with a shrug, "It's sort of true. I thought if we were being honest with each other you might as well know."

"I'm afraid of snakes," Ty added, not as though it mattered. "Is that on the same level?"

Zhane was laughing now too. "When did it become a competition?" he wanted to know. "Who has the scariest fear! Are we going to vote on this or something?"

"I vote for Kerone's," Ashley put in, and the sorceress winked at her.

Just like that, they were gone. She was standing in the middle of the desert alone--or not quite alone, because suddenly her cat was casting its massive shadow in all directions. She held absolutely still. An insect trilled in the distance, and then she was even less alone.

Jeff stood in front of her. The way he looked at her made her hesitate, though, and something told her that her brother was no more real than the canyon had been. For some reason, this illusion was less convincing than that one had been.

"The choice to bestow the Power is yours," he said, and when he spoke it was Jeff's voice, too. "Who will you have on your team?"

She drew back in surprise, but it was too good a chance to pass up. "Andros," she said without thinking. "And Kerone."

She made herself stop. It was tempting to name all of the old Astro Rangers, but she couldn't do that. They had their own lives now, and she had no right to interfere with the choices they had made. And she couldn't exclude those who had chosen to come this time just because it would make her life easier.

"Zhane should be on the team too," she added, hating her reluctance even as she recognized it. "And Ty. All five of us went on this quest, and all five of us should receive the Kerovan powers."

Jeff was gone as though he had never been, and in his place was a thoroughly confused looking Ty. "What was that all about?" he wanted to know.

"That..." Comprehension slowly dawned, and she shivered as she realized what had just happened. "I think that was our last test." She could tell from his expression that he didn't understand yet, and she added, "Did someone just ask you who you wanted on the team?"

"Yes," he admitted. He turned that over in his mind, and his eyes went wide as the implications began to sink in. "What happens if someone doesn't name all five of us?"

"I don't know," she said quietly. "I guess we fail."

"All of us?" Kerone's voice inquired. "Or just the people who don't get named?"

Ashley glanced at Andros' sister in surprise as the other girl joined them. "What were you saying about us being a team back in Cayeron? What happened to us being in this together?"

Kerone didn't so much as blink at the reproof. "I just like to know what the rules are, that's all."

"I don't know the rules," she reminded the sorceress with a sigh. She shouldn't have jumped on Kerone for being who she was. "But I'm betting it's all for one and one for all. That's what it means to be a Ranger."

"I thought it meant cool toys and a really boring wardrobe," Zhane drawled. "Maybe I'm on the wrong quest. You'd think they would have checked my ticket at the gate or something."

Ashley felt a smile spread across her face, and she felt an arm settle over her shoulders as she started to turn. "What about you, Ash?" Zhane wanted to know. "You sure this is what you signed up for? Everyone looks pretty serious."

"Everyone but you *is* serious," Andros retorted. He stood next to Kerone, and for just a moment their banter was as easy as it had ever been. "I think it's something about risking our lives for a chance."

"You mean a chance to risk our lives some more?" Ashley suggested, and Zhane laughed.

The world flared white before their eyes, an eerie echo of the flash that had brought them here in the first place, and suddenly they were standing amid the hills east of Keyota. Or at least they were among hills, and something about them was more Kerovan than Californian. There was no real reason to think it was the same scene she had seen through the hostel windows all summer.

"Ashley Hammond."

She started at the sound of Dimitria's voice. Belatedly, it occurred to her that this was no more Dimitria than "Jeff" had been her brother... but the ghostly white shimmer in front of her was hard to dismiss. Even if it wasn't the Turbo Rangers' mentor, it must represent a being of similar power. Or Power.

"Andros," "Dimitria" continued. "Zhane." Ashley wondered suddenly if each of the others had heard their own name first.

"Kerone," the insubstantial being intoned. "Ty." She used the name Ty had chosen for himself, Ashley noticed, not the one he had casually mentioned to Andros. A remark he had probably been regretting ever since, her mind added impertinently.

"A Power Ranger may come from any walk of life," Dimitria informed them. "But no matter their background or ambition, every being who wields the Power does so with tenacity, skill, courage, and loyalty. You have proven yourselves worthy of the title, and it is my honor to grant to this team that which it seeks."

Ashley took a relieved breath as the words sank in, and she felt a hand on her shoulder. She glanced over to smile at Andros and found him looking as quietly triumphant as she felt. There would be time to celebrate later. For now, she was sure everyone was just glad to have made it.

"The conduit of Power to which your key has brought you is one that predates the frontier," Dimitria was saying. "Even so, it was meant to be wielded by humans. It is difficult to say what the effects on non-human physiology will be." 

Ashley saw a frown crease Andros' forehead, and she wondered what "Dimitria" was talking about. "We're all human," he said, echoing her own curiosity. "There won't be any problem."

"One of you is not." Dimitria's tone remained calmly inscrutable even as she stated the impossible. "Your team consists of four humans who will be able to receive the Power with predictable results, and one whose reaction remains unknown. Does this one wish to accept the Power regardless?"

Ty held up his hands as if to ward off their stares. "Don't look at me," he protested. "I don't know what she's talking about."

Ashley traded confused glances with Andros. She was completely unprepared to hear Kerone break the ensuing silence, her voice quiet but sure of itself.

"Yes." The sorceress lifted her chin in a gesture reminiscent of Astronema, gazing directly at Dimitria's translucent form. "I do wish to accept the Power."

"Kerone?" Andros' startled exclamation gave one voice to everyone's reaction.

"Yes," she said softly, not looking at him. "I'm Kerone." With a small sigh, she added, "Just not the Kerone you knew."

"Not the Kerone we knew when?" Zhane wanted to know. He sounded wary, but not as shocked as Andros. "Who are you?"

She might not want to look at Andros, but she lifted her gaze to Zhane's without hesitation. "I haven't lied to you," she insisted. "I promise you that. I'm the same person you've known since Astronema. I'm just... I'm not the girl that was kidnapped from the park, that's all."

"Then who are you?" Andros demanded. "How can you be Kerone if you're not my sister?"

"I am your sister," Kerone murmured, but now she was staring down at the ground. She sounded almost guilty, which was something Ashley couldn't remember ever having heard from her. "Or I was... maybe I don't have Kerone's blood anymore; I don't know."

Ashley felt Andros inhale sharply. She caught his arm and squeezed, hard. "Kerone," she said gently. "If you're not human, then what are you?"

Kerone looked up, and she smiled tentatively. "Would you believe me if I said 'magic'?"

"I'll believe whatever you say," Ashley promised. "You know I trust you. Are you magic?"

She glanced at Andros for the first time, then looked away quickly. "Kerone wasn't strong enough to survive in Dark Spectre's monarchy," she said softly. "There's a reason most of the troops are monsters or machines. Trying to protect me only weakened Ecliptor, and he knew he couldn't do it for long. So he--he changed me."

"You said a friend of his gave you the magic," Zhane interrupted.

"I never knew much about his friend," Kerone confessed. "All I knew was that she was a sorceress, and that she had been exiled by Dark Spectre because she was a threat to his power.

"She must have owed Ecliptor a lot," she added, when no one said anything. "He would never tell me why she did what she did, but she infused me with all the magic she had. And it kept growing, too, even after she was gone. It kind of... I think it burned part of me away. The human part, I guess.

She swallowed, then continued quickly, "I kept all my memories. Or most of them. Sometimes I remember more than others. But I lost my telekinesis, and my appetite, and most of my need to sleep. Sometimes--I don't even have a heartbeat, sometimes."

Ashley just stared at her, but beside her she heard Andros burst out, "And you didn't tell us?!"

She tossed her head, her long hair sliding over her shoulders. "How did you think I survived?" she demanded. "Luck? You know I don't eat. Zhane knows I don't sleep. You don't get the kind of power I have without sacrificing something, and Ecliptor thought it was worth it to keep me alive."

"So do I," Ashley said firmly, before Andros could answer. "I'm glad you're here, magic or no."

"I like your magic," Zhane added, giving her a secretive smile. "But you knew that."

"Tevi always liked you," Ty said unexpectedly. "And you haven't changed since I met you. I don't mind having a magic friend."

Kerone was still staring at Andros, but he just shook his head when the rest of them fell silent. "I spent a long time searching for Kerone," he told her. "You weren't what I expected when I first found you, and you're not any better now.

"But you're my sister," he concluded with a small smile. "And I guess that's the way it's supposed to be. I'm glad Ecliptor helped you survive." Under his breath but still loud enough for them to hear, he muttered, "I can't believe I'm grateful to a villain."

"Maybe we could send him a fruit basket," Zhane suggested, deadpan.

"Then it is done," Dimitria's voice declared, startling Ashley with the reminder of her presence. "The five of you will be the Rangers of Kerova. Defend it well. Defend each other well. May the Power protect you, Rangers."

Ashley could have sworn she heard a distant roar as the world faded into darkness, and she wondered about it even as her eyes struggled to adapt. This wasn't the blackness of sleep or the opaqueness of teleportation. It was the dimness of late evening when one had just left a well-lit building, and she waited impatiently for the veil of night-blindness to lift.

"Does anyone else think that was anticlimactic?" Ty's voice wanted to know. A flicker of light and the rustle of movement came from somewhere off to her left.

"Were you expecting a parade?" Zhane inquired.

She could make out faint outlines in the direction of their voices, and a hulking shadow to her right that could only be a building. She felt someone slide past her, and by the way he moved she knew it had to be Andros. She wondered if they were still in the morphin grid, and if they were, why it was so dark.

"I was kind of expecting to morph," Ty admitted. His voice was more muffled than it had been, as though he had turned away. "Where are we, anyway?"

A flash of purple light cast their immediate surroundings into violet shadow, and Ashley frowned at the odd illumination. The building was familiar, but she couldn't place it under such bizarre conditions. Ty didn't seem to be having any better luck.

A door cracked open, spilling normal light out into the darkness, and she heard a strange voice inquire, "Who's there?"

"It's just me, Ma," Zhane's voice answered. "Sorry to startle you."

"Zhane!" The door was flung wide, and the light from inside washed over all of them. "We were so worried! Zordon said you were all right, but there's nothing like seeing for yourself... Come in! Are your friends all here? Are you all right? What can we do?"

"Ma..." Zhane sounded mildly exasperated, but he allowed the woman whose face Ashley still couldn't see to embrace him. "We only left this afternoon."

The woman--his grandmother?--pulled away, drawing him closer to the light as she did so. She seemed to be studying him, maybe to reassure herself that he was really there, but when she spoke her words were a steady stream of shock that the speaker seemed to take for granted.

"This afternoon? It's been months, Zhane. No one knew where you had gone! We found the boxes open upstairs and thought you must have been here, but I couldn't imagine why until the Council told us about Andros. Kinwon contacted Eltare, and we eventually got word from Zordon, but it took days to figure out who was missing and what you must be up to..."

She went on and on, abruptly turning to their comfort as she realized they were all standing outside in silence. Numbly, Ashley allowed herself to be led into the house, all the while trying to process that single piece of information. It was going to take some effort to turn it into something her mind could grasp, and she had a sinking feeling that it was going to hurt when she finally made sense of it.

They had been gone for _months_?

_fin_


	15. Selfless

__

Disclaimer: I like blueberries. Wait, I don't have to disclaim that... Life is strange? No, that's common knowledge. Oh well. SOTPR. This story is rated for an unusually high incidence of the word "stupid".

Selfless  
by Starhawk

He could hear voices from the kitchen. Lamplight spilled over the island that separated the kitchen from the rest of the house, but the flicker of violet sparkles was far more distracting than that steady glow. The occasional rustle of fabric as Ashley or Tixe shifted in their sleep wasn't helping either.

He sighed, rolling over on one side to watch Kerone play tic-tac-toe on the floor next to her pillow. He might as well be honest with himself. The house could be dark and perfectly silent and Andros knew he still wouldn't be able to fall asleep. It was kind of Zhane's grandparents to welcome all of them into their house, but his mind was racing too quickly to follow, let alone tame with the calm of unconsciousness.

Kerone glanced over at him, apparently misinterpreting his stare. "Sorry," she whispered, putting her hand over the glowing grid on the floor. "Is it bothering you?"

He shook his head. "No, it's fine," he whispered back. Then a thought occurred to him, and he smiled a little. "Can I play?"

The sound of footsteps made him look up, but it was just Zhane's grandfather puttering around the island. Zhane and Ma were still silhouetted by the stove light, conversing in quiet tones that Andros hadn't been able to overhear no matter how hard he tried. He knew it was paranoid to think they were talking about him, but he couldn't help wondering.

"Go talk to him," Kerone whispered, startling him with her voice even though he had asked her a question. "You won't be able to sleep until you do, and you know he's not going to come over here until you're asleep anyway."

He shifted uncomfortably, steeling himself for the answer before he had even asked the question. "Kerone," he said, very softly. "Did you know?"

"Yes." Her quiet tone was matter-of-fact. "I knew how he felt. I knew how you'd react to Ty. And I knew Ashley would eventually find out. I also knew there wasn't a thing I could do about any of it, so I kept my mouth shut and watched you hurt each other until I couldn't stand it anymore."

He sighed again, soundlessly this time. "I don't know what to tell you," he whispered.

She shrugged. "I forgive you," she murmured, as though it had been a given. "But he hasn't, so go talk to him."

"What about Ashley?" The words were out before he could think about how they would sound, and he cast a furtive glance over his shoulder. The Yellow Ranger was still sleeping peacefully, she and Tixe granted enviable respite from the world for a few hours.

"She doesn't want anything from you that you won't give willingly," Kerone whispered. "She won't want *you* until you figure out what you want."

He swallowed. That was just depressing enough to be true, and he didn't know whether to hate her for it or thank her. He sat up without another word, pushing his sleeping bag away and trying to stay as quiet as possible. The last thing he wanted was to wake up the only two people who were getting any sleep tonight.

Well, it was almost the last thing he wanted.

Andros stepped carefully between the prone forms, his motion silent as he made his way toward the kitchen. Pa was gone, probably outside checking the moon moths or whatever new exotic they were harboring in the garden these days. Zhane and Ma didn't seem to notice as he hesitated on the edge of the light, bracing himself against the side of the island.

"--who we wanted on the team," Zhane was saying quietly, and Andros realized he was now close enough to overhear. "It was weird, you know? Suddenly deciding for everyone else... I didn't have to do that last time. And you know what my first thought was?"

Andros tried not to breathe, hoping Zhane would finish before either of them noticed he was here. Only a sense of duty had made him add Tixe's name when he'd been asked that same question. Now he knew that had been part of the test, and it scared him that he'd come so close to failing yet again. He had taken the Power for granted all his life, yet he had ended up being a liability to the team on their quest.

"I didn't say it," Zhane said softly, but his words carried nonetheless. "But I thought, 'anyone but me'. What's wrong with me, Ma? I was on a quest for the Power. I was looking for something most people never get a chance to have, and I didn't even want it."

"Was it the Power you didn't want?" Ma asked gently. Her voice was soothing, but her words filled him with dread. Was there anyone who didn't know about how he had treated Zhane?

Zhane hung his head, but he didn't answer.

"The first time the Power chose you," she continued, reaching out to put her hand over his, "it chose you because you wanted it so much. You had to have it. Nothing else in the world mattered as much as being able to go with Andros on the Megaship. You didn't have anything else: no fighting skills, no experience, nothing except your loyalty to your friend. And that was enough."

He fully expected her to say that the opposite was true this time. Now the Silver Ranger had experience but no motivation. Instead, Ma just patted Zhane's hand again and said simply, "Maybe it was enough this time, too."

Zhane lifted his head and looked straight at Andros. There was no surprise in his blue eyes, and Andros straightened uncomfortably. He didn't know whether it disturbed him more to be caught eavesdropping or to realize that Zhane had known he was there all along and had still said what he did.

__

Anyone but me... He was only now starting to understand how wide the rift between them had become. What if there was no way to close it?

"Can't sleep?" Zhane asked, not bothering to raise his voice. He knew Andros could hear. 

Ma turned around, and Andros felt himself blushing at the reproachful look on her face. But the look was gone in a moment, replaced by a sympathetic smile as she bustled over to him and drew him into the light. "I'll make you some tea," she promised, letting go of his arm to open one of the cupboards. "You've all had a long day; it's no wonder you can't settle down enough to rest."

"Doesn't seem to be stopping the others," Zhane muttered. It was hard to tell whether he was envious of them or suspicious of Andros for the same reason.

He swallowed. "I can't stop thinking," he confessed, staring down at the counter beside Zhane. "I was hoping... maybe we could talk."

There was no answer for a moment. Zhane had kicked off his shoes the moment they were inside, and it was his bare feet that caught Andros' attention now. He remembered Tixe following suit, and the grin the two of them had shared had made him want to scream. Why was Tixe so lucky? What had he done to deserve that look from Zhane?

Like the Power, he had taken Zhane's affection for granted until it was threatened. He could see it now, and he was desperately afraid that he understood too late.

And what if he didn't? What if it wasn't too late? Would that be any better? _"I can't share my boyfriend, Andros."_ Why was the best that he could hope for the possibility that he would only lose one of them?

"Do you want to go outside?" Zhane asked at last.

"Yeah," Andros agreed, almost sighing with relief.

"Your tea will be ready when you come in," Ma said over her shoulder. "Tell Pa to come in if you see him. The moths can survive one night without his help."

"We will, Ma," Zhane assured her, though they both knew she had only said it to give them some privacy.

Andros added his thanks on top of Zhane's, and they filed out through the garden door as quietly as they could. The cool air wrapped damp tendrils around them even before the door closed. The darkness was full of chirps and the murmur of running water. The moon moths glowed along the garden path, but Pa was nowhere to be seen.

Zhane didn't say anything, clearly waiting for him to speak.

Staring down at the path beneath their feet, Andros wondered if it still led to the same places that it had taken them when they were younger. It had been a long time since he visited this house. Zhane had been back several times since they'd returned to KO-35, but he'd been too busy. Too busy for a lot of things, it seemed.

"What did you see in the morphin grid?" Andros asked abruptly. "When we first appeared, all of us in our own visions... what was yours?"

"Nothing." The words were toneless, but he elaborated, "I didn't see anything. Maybe it figured it had already tested me."

Andros glanced up, frowning. "You went through all the other tests."

"I didn't see anything," Zhane insisted, looking away. He had been doing that ever since the visions. At first Andros had thought it was his own fault, first for getting lost and then for trying to kiss his friend in front of the others. But now he was starting to wonder.

"Nothing at all?" he pressed. "You just stood there waiting for us?"

"Nothing," Zhane echoed, staring down at the ground. Then, almost inaudibly, he muttered, "Nothing new, anyway."

"You saw the same thing you saw last time?" Andros guessed quietly. Zhane had never told him much about his first quest, claiming alternately that it was too hard to explain or that he didn't remember much of it. It was one of the few things he had been close-mouthed about, and Andros hadn't pushed for answers.

Now he was pushing. "Does that mean that what you want most hasn't changed?" he asked, when Zhane didn't say anything. "Or..." He stumbled over the words as the thought occurred to him. "That you want to go back?"

"What does it matter?" Zhane snapped, taking a step back. "It wasn't real. Kerone said you wanted me to come, and I did. Now you say you want to talk, and here I am. So talk."

"What do *you* want?" Andros demanded. "How am I supposed to know what to say if you won't tell me anything?"

"How am I supposed to talk to you if you never listen?" Zhane shot back. "I told you everything, Andros! You've known where I am every second for more than a year. You've known who I'm with, what I'm doing, and why I think it matters. You've known because you always knew, and it didn't occur to me not to tell you.

"Obviously it occurred to you," he added, bitterness creeping into his tone. "I guess after being alone for two years you lose the habit. But I figured that was all it was, and then I figured it was because you were with Ashley, and then I figured you were just too busy. By the time I got done making excuses for you, I realized that I was making them because you didn't bother. You didn't think you needed an excuse for not talking to me."

"I did talk to you," Andros protested automatically. "I tried, but you haven't been around, and then there was Tixe--"

"I met Ty two days ago!" Zhane exclaimed. "I was *always* around! Until you disappeared without a trace a few days ago and wouldn't answer your communicator. When Kerone invited me to the hay party, I knew you wouldn't worry if I didn't come back because you weren't here. So I didn't come back."

"I worried," Andros murmured, remembering the Rangers from JT's dimension. "I met you on Eltare, and you said some things..." He folded his arms across his chest unconsciously. "I worried," he finished, hearing the awkwardness even as he said it.

Zhane was giving him the strangest look. "You met me on Eltare?" he repeated.

"Justin's been doing some experiments," Andros muttered, wondering how much of this explanation he would get through. "He's been transferring Rangers from one dimension to another. Mostly on purpose. You came through from another dimension while I was there. It knocked out the generators for more than an hour and we... we talked some."

"About what?" Zhane looked torn between curiosity and resentment. "What was I like? Did you meet anyone else?"

"Myself," Andros admitted. "And Ash's double came through, too."

"Of course." Zhane's expression was suddenly blank. "Must have appealed to her romantic nature to see the two of you together in yet another dimension."

His tone was detached, but his words were arguably sharp. Andros watched his face all the more closely as he replied, "We weren't."

He let Zhane sort through the implications of that for a moment, then added, "Me and Ash weren't together in that other dimension. You and I were."

Zhane opened his mouth, but no sound came out. "Oh," he whispered at last, looking away. "I--I'm sorry."

Andros stared at him. "What?"

"I'm sorry," Zhane said again, a little louder this time. "Ash must have been... upset."

"No," Andros said slowly. That wasn't quite the reaction he'd expected. "She--wait, you're *sorry*?" he repeated incredulously. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Zhane caught his eye, but it was hard to tell whether he was surprised by the question or not. "It means I'm sorry," he said, sounding a little irritated. "You and Ash are always talking about how you're meant to be together. I'm sorry if it bothered you to be with someone else, even in another dimension."

He had told Kerone earlier that he didn't know what to say. That was nothing compared to his utter inability to formulate a response to Zhane's apparently sincere contrition. He was more than speechless. He suspected his brain had shut down entirely in the face of such an apology.

"What?" Zhane asked at last. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I--" He couldn't find anywhere to go with that sentence, so he tried again. "You... you're the most selfless person I've ever known," Andros said wonderingly. He had known that, once, and he had had it proved to him over and over again. It was just one more thing he had long since started taking for granted.

"Yeah, well, it's not all it's cracked up to be," Zhane muttered.

"Zhane..." He took a deep breath. "We were together in my vision, too. In the morphin grid."

Zhane looked up, searching his expression with inscrutable eyes. "You almost stayed in your vision."

Andros swallowed. "I know. I--I wanted to stay. It was all... everything was so perfect there. I guess it was supposed to be."

"You were with me," Zhane said evenly. "And you thought it was perfect?"

"You woke me up with your stupid starfighter game," Andros told him, determined to recount as much as he could remember. "You knew I was awake, but you didn't say anything until I complained. You didn't shut it off until I told you I'd had a bad dream... I'd dreamed I was here," he added. "Here where you're mad at me and I don't know what to say and here where there's Tixe."

If he'd had to guess, he would have said Zhane tried not to smile at that. "Yeah, it's pretty terrible," he agreed, straight-faced. "No wonder you didn't want to come back."

"It wasn't that I didn't want to come back," Andros said firmly. "It's that I wanted things to be like they were when I was there! You listened to my stupid dream, and you teased me and made me feel better, and you..."

Zhane was watching him intently. "I what?" he prompted, when Andros trailed off. "What happened?"

Andros dropped his arms, suddenly aware of his body language. "You... you kissed me," he confessed, staring down at the ground. It was a silly thing to be embarrassed about, especially when they had once kissed as casually as they teleported, but he was.

"Did I," Zhane said, his voice curiously detached.

Andros nodded, picking up the thread of the story quickly. "But then you were hungry, so we went to breakfast, and the others--"

Zhane took a step closer, a long step that put him well within Andros' personal space. It had never made him uncomfortable before, but this time he broke off even before Zhane repeated, "I kissed you." 

Andros lifted his head slowly.

"If it was in your vision," Zhane said quietly, searching his expression. "Does that mean it's what you want?"

Andros drew in a deep breath, bracing himself to repeat the question Zhane still hadn't answered. "What do *you* want?" he asked again. He had to know.

"You know what I want," Zhane told him fiercely. He put one hand on the side of the house behind Andros' head, his eyes cast in shadow as he leaned closer. "Damn you, Andros; you know perfectly well what I want!"

For one timeless moment, he forgot everything but Zhane's breath on his skin and his warmth in the coolness of night. The mouth he hadn't felt on his for so long that he could no longer clearly remember it was now close enough to taste, and all he had to do was move a little closer. He leaned forward--

The door hissed open behind them. "Boys?" Ma called, as though she couldn't see them. "Zhane? Andros?"

With the light from the kitchen behind her maybe she really couldn't see them, Andros thought dazedly. Zhane had already pulled away, but his heart was still pounding loud enough to be heard in his ears. He couldn't remember feeling this weak even after the cog attack on their quest. God, he had wanted that kiss.

"We're right here, Ma." Zhane's voice wasn't particularly steady either, but his grandmother didn't seem to notice.

"You'd better come inside," she said, peering in their direction. "There's a comm alert with an underground evac order for the entire continent. Cavreigh and Quon are under attack."

The words were foreign, leftover from another time. How often had he and Zhane been called in from this same garden for similar reasons? How often had they--

"Come on," Zhane hissed, jolting him out of his distraction.

The others were already in the kitchen, gathered around the comm with both of Zhane's grandparents. Pa must have gone in through one of the other doors. The lights blazed throughout the house now, making no concession to the hour. The comm was loud enough that Andros could hear it from the door, and he caught Ashley's eye the moment she looked up.

"We tried to reach Kinwon," she said, not waiting for him to ask. "The official channels are all jammed. We can't get anything but the alert."

He and Zhane exchanged glances. "The Megaship," they said at the same time.

Zhane flipped his digimorpher open and punched in a code in the same amount of time it took Andros to remember he wasn't wearing his communicator. "DECA," the Silver Ranger said. "Five to teleport."

DECA didn't need anything else, and the house vanished from around them. Andros spared a thought for Ma and Pa, who would probably worry up until the moment they returned, but they would be safer in Cayeron than anywhere else. They knew what it was like to have Ranger children.

"DECA," Andros snapped, as soon as the teleportation stream released him. "Status."

"Cavreigh, Quon, and Kataisa are under heavy laser bombardment," the computer reported. "The velocifighter attack is concentrated over sector 12, though strays are coming through sectors 10, 11, 14, and 22. I am unable to account for three orbital platforms and seven communication relays, but the primary focus appears to be terrestrial rather than atmospheric."

"Get us over there," Andros ordered, slipping into the pilot's seat without a second thought. "Zhane, weapons. Ash, I want you on nav and comm. Kerone--"

He broke off as he remembered Zordon's words in the grid. _"It is difficult to say what the effects on non-human physiology will be." _Andros swiveled around to face her, dismayed as he recognized, too late, their wasted time. Rangers that succeeded came back from their quests just when they were needed. They should have known better than to think they would have a night to themselves before they had to confront the Power they had been granted.

"Kerone, take Ash's place," he said at last. "Ash, you and Tixe will have to morph. Take the zords out and chase down DECA's strays. I don't want anything that opened fire on this planet to escape untouched."

"You got it," Ashley agreed, glancing over at Tixe. "Ready?"

"Andros!" Kerone knew exactly what he was doing. "I'm no good to you if you won't let me help!"

"You are helping," he told her, turning back to the pilot's console. "We'll figure this out later. Get on nav."

There was the chime of activated morphers, and then, "Let's rocket!" 

The bright flash of morphing energy enveloped the entire Bridge before vanishing as quickly as it had come. The glow of teleportation took its place, and Andros wished briefly that he had gotten to see them before they left. Ashley would have used the old words, but he knew he'd heard Tixe's voice in there too... what did their uniforms look like?

"Incoming," Zhane's voice warned tersely. "55 by 20--Kerone, what the hell are you doing!"

"Navigating," she replied innocently as the Megaship pulled out of its forward roll.

"Don't!" he shot back. "Andros is bad enough; we don't need two of you doing it!"

The Megalasers opened up, catching two, three, four velocifighters with half intensity at almost point-blank range. The explosions ignited the local atmosphere, and Andros swore as he realized how long it had been since they had fought above a city. There was no vacuum to put out the flaming debris as it fell.

"Zhane!" He knew the Silver Ranger had seen it too, but he had to say something. "Vaporize or nothing!" The Megaship swooped in underneath the impact, disintegrating most of the wreckage as it came in contact with the shields.

"Better one falling ship than a hundred laser strikes!" Zhane retorted, but he pushed the Megalasers to maximum without another word.

"KPD deployment confirmed," DECA announced.

Andros' tactical map changed abruptly. Instead of the free-floating green specks that represented friendly fighters, he had a dimmer net of green overlaid by the fiery orange of velocifighters. The net rippled and flowed as the deployment shifted around weapons' fire and intruding ships, but the pattern was holding.

"We have contact with the ground," Kerone added. "Funny... Kinwon doesn't sound as officious as I remember."

"Funny," Zhane echoed wryly. "Tell him we're a little busy right now. We'll get back to him."

Two velocifighters vanished from the tactical map simultaneously, proving beyond any doubt Zhane's ability to talk and shoot at the same time. Andros pulled up, leaving the stragglers for the PD as the Megaship intercepted the next wave. "DECA, how are the others doing?"

"Sectors 14 and 11 are clear," DECA answered. "Ashley and Tixe appear to have split up, although judging from their comm transmissions they are well aware of each other's status."

"Which is?" Zhane demanded, fingers dancing across the Megalaser controls.

"Optimum," DECA replied. "Their zords are performing satisfactorily. Their skill, enhanced by the Power though it may be, is more than adequate to the task."

"Andros--" Zhane yelped as a velocifighter impacted against the shields. "What was that! Since when do you play chicken with velocifighters!"

"Since you don't shoot them down before they lose," Andros retorted. "That one was practically dead ahead!"

"I was a little distracted by the strafing run you weren't avoiding," Zhane informed him, blasting two more velocifighters as the Megaship swung around to give him a clear shot at the debris from the first one.

"I tried to avoid it!" Andros protested, completing the arc as soon as Zhane cleared the sky. "Kerone overrode me!"

There was a noticeable silence, and he wished he had a moment to glance over his shoulder at his sister. Her training at the nav station was somewhat limited, but she was an excellent pilot and that usually made up for a lot. He hadn't meant to imply that she wasn't doing her job.

"Well, Astrea?" Zhane demanded. His control of the Megalasers was almost instinctive. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Oh, am I expected to participate in this?" Kerone sounded, if anything, amused. "I thought it was between the two of you."

"Anyone on the Bridge is fair game," Zhane said over his shoulder. "Keeps us alert."

"Incoming," Andros interrupted, when a velocifighter got a little too close for comfort. "15 by 45!"

"I see it, I see it," Zhane grumbled. The enemy fighter was gone before the Megaship had time to evade. "You have no faith."

"You have no aim," Andros retorted. "That was a lucky shot!"

"Whatever it was!" Zhane exclaimed indignantly. "I saw that thing coming before you did! It was thanks to your lack of piloting ability that I had to wait that long before I had any kind of shot!"

"This keeps you alert?" Kerone's voice was laced with disbelief.

"Zhane has to learn to multitask somehow," Andros replied, swinging the Megaship around to sweep through the remains of the second wave.

"That's funny coming from the one-track wonder," Zhane shot back.

"Sectors 10, 22, and 23 are clear," DECA interrupted. "Velocifighter encroachment on sector 12 has fallen to 20 percent of maximum. Ashley and Tixe are on an intercept course."

"His name is Ty, DECA." Zhane didn't look up from the weapons' console. "Andros only calls him that to be annoying."

There was no safe way to answer that, so Andros said nothing. The zords had already appeared on his tactical map, within weapons' range and closing fast. They peeled off in opposite directions with a symmetrical flyby that looked for all the world as though they'd rehearsed it a dozen times, making Zhane swear as they dove recklessly between Megalaser bursts.

"Kerone, get them on the comm!" The Silver Ranger was either fuming or impressed; it was hard to tell. "I don't know what they think they're doing, but that wasn't funny!"

Fuming. Definitely fuming, Andros thought, trying to hide a smile. The anger was funny when it wasn't directed at him.

The only answer was the sound of Ashley's laughter when Kerone opened the link, and Andros couldn't help chuckling. "Jealous?" he inquired, shooting a sidelong look at Zhane. The velocifighters were all but eliminated, and Ashley and Tixe were obviously enjoying the chance to show off.

Zhane glanced back at him, and their gazes locked for a brief second. "Of which one?" he asked, deadpan.

Andros blinked, and Zhane's attention was back on the Megalasers as though nothing had happened. Andros turned back to his own console, but his focus wasn't as easily shifted. Had Zhane's feelings always been so obvious, or was he just more attuned to them all of a sudden?

"We have fighter contact," Kerone informed them. "Someone important-sounding just gave the all-clear. Do we stand down on her order?"

"DECA," Andros said, forcing his thoughts back to the task at hand. "Velocifighter status."

"Encroachment is zero," DECA answered. "Detectable air traffic is restricted to friendly fighters, and terrestrial invasion is insignificant."

"I'll take that as a 'no'?" Kerone inquired politely.

"No," Andros agreed. "We don't answer to the KPD, but we will stand down. DECA, autopilot for high-altitude orbit. We'll catch up with you as soon as we figure out what's going on."

"Acknowledged." There was a brief pause, and then she added, "Welcome back, Rangers."

As he got to his feet, Andros found himself glancing automatically at Zhane. The Silver Ranger grinned, and Andros could only smile in return. The more things changed, he supposed. 

"Thanks, DECA."

***

"Hi, Zhane."

Ashley's voice greeted him from the comm and he looked up in surprise. She was almost the last person he had expected to hear from via recorded comm message, especially since she had only left this afternoon and was probably still in transit to Earth. Given recent circumstances, hearing from her at all was a bit of a shock.

In fact, on the list of People Who Wouldn't Call Zhane, Ashley ranked somewhere below Ecliptor and right above, say, Saryn. He expected to hear from the former any day now, just on general principle, and the latter wouldn't have spoken to him without good reason even if they were alone on a six-hour shuttle ride.

"I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodbye," she continued. "Things got a little crazy there for a while, and between Marsie and Kinwon and Andros I just never caught up with you."

The leader of the Kerovan PD wanted the new Rangers to consider training with her fighter wings. She had suggested it with all the deference and respect that Kinwon had lacked when he appeared on the scene via comm link later. He had demanded to know what right Andros had to steal the astromorphers before vanishing on a potentially suicidal quest, showing very little in the way of gratitude or even happiness for their safe return.

Andros had promised to consider Marsie's request. Kinwon had been ignored in favor of a private conversation with Ashley, and Zhane hadn't minded the chance to cut the Council leader off mid-rant. He had been so satisfied that he managed not to eavesdrop on the Red Ranger's conversation with his girlfriend, though he hadn't missed her tears or the stormy expression on his friend's face when Andros returned alone.

"I guess... I guess maybe I didn't try very hard," Ashley admitted after a moment, studying the screen frankly. "I don't know exactly what to say to you, and maybe I didn't want to have to do it face to face."

She was doing a pretty good job of it over the comm, he thought, unbidden. She sounded calm, far calmer than he would have been in her place--far calmer than he *had* been in her place, actually. Andros had managed to turn both their lives upside down without even trying.

He realized belatedly that she had paused again, and his gaze flicked over her surroundings quickly. She must have recorded this from her zord. He still hadn't seen the cockpits firsthand, but she looked perfectly comfortable in the foreign environment.

"You should know that Andros and I broke up," Ashley said abruptly. Now he could see the tears in her eyes, and her struggle to repress them. "I'll tell you the same thing I told him: I'll always be your friend. No matter what happens, I hope you never doubt that I love you.

"He asked if I was coming back," she added, choking on a laugh. She dashed one hand across her eyes impatiently, directing a too-bright smile at the screen. "Sorry... I didn't mean to dump all this on you. I just want you to know..."

Ashley trailed off for just a moment, but it was enough for her to regain her composure. "I told him KO-35 is my home now," she said, taking a deep breath. "You guys are my family." The smile that flitted across her face this time was wistful as she added, "I hope you still feel that way too, after everything that's happened.

"I have to work some stuff out on Earth," she went on, reminding him that she wasn't really on the other end of the comm link waiting for his reply. "You probably know that Kerone's coming too, which is good because I'm going to need moral support. But I'll be back soon, I hope, and maybe we can... I don't know. Not talk about Andros," she said with another attempted smile.

She was reaching for something in front of her when she paused, giving the screen an intent look. "Zhane... I'm not doing this very well, because what I really wanted to tell you was that--well, I hope you and Andros can figure things out. I mean... I want you to be happy. Both of you."

Ashley sighed, her shoulders drooping as she stared down at the console. "It's easy to be angry at Andros... believe me, I know. But he doesn't deserve that. I know in my heart that he loves us, and he would never intentionally hurt either of us. So I hope you'll forgive him for whatever he's done recently, and--and give him a chance.

"I'll see you soon," she added awkwardly, glancing up at the screen. "Don't get into too much trouble without me."

Just like that, she was gone. He was left staring at a blank comm screen, the pawprint logo of the new Kerovan Rangers fading into darkness even as he watched. They were a team now, no matter what. She had said it herself, and the ties between Rangers superseded all other relationships.

"Selfless," he said aloud, the word grating in the stillness of the room. "Andros..." He sighed, wondering if the Red Ranger could fathom the depths of the turmoil he had caused so unintentionally. "You have no idea what selflessness is."

He stacked his fists on top of each other and leaned forward, resting his chin on them as he leaned on the workstation surface. It wasn't true, of course; Andros had sacrificed more for intangible goals than anyone he knew. His determination inspired others, and so he had become a leader.

The unfortunate part, Zhane reflected, was that those others had a disturbing tendency to fall in love with him. Too bad there wasn't some sort of screening process. Subject A may only follow Andros if he or she is motivated by external factors. Subject B may join the team only if he or she can prove a prior permanent attachment. Subject C--

The door slid open, and the aforementioned leader strode through.

He had intended to be in and out before Andros returned, counting on the conference with DECA to delay the Red Ranger while Zhane made himself scarce. He hadn't wanted to be alone with his best friend after what had almost happened in the garden... The near-betrayal of Ashley had shaken him to the core, reminding him of just how vulnerable he was if Andros so much as looked his way.

Yet now it was Ashley that made him hesitate, questioning his own resolve. She had all but said she wanted to see the two of them together. And why else would she have broken up with Andros instead of trying to work things out, if not to give him a chance?

He closed his eyes, knowing he was only telling himself what he wanted to hear. The same way she had. She knew what he wanted because she wanted it too, and she was giving it up because she thought it was the right thing to do--not because her heart told her to.

It occurred to him that Andros' footsteps had stopped, and he looked up to find his best friend watching him. The tawny, natural hue looked good on him, but it was still strange to see Andros in something other than red. He had had several opportunities to change, and it made Zhane wonder what message the Red Ranger was trying to send.

"DECA wanted to know where you were," Andros said abruptly.

With a sigh, Zhane rested his chin on his fists again. "Nice of her to care."

There was a moment of silence. "I wondered too," Andros said, more quietly. "Are you all right?"

He couldn't help smiling. "I guess that depends on how you define 'all right'," he remarked, staring at the blank comm screen.

There was another pause. "Is there anything I can do?" Andros asked at last.

If it had been anyone but Andros he would have said, sure, he could think of a few things. But it was Andros, and there were lines they didn't cross. He had never had to censor himself around his best friend before. He didn't like it.

"Why did you let that monster win?" he asked suddenly.

"What monster?"

"The one that beat you." Zhane frowned down at the tabletop, wishing he could change the outcome of that day somehow. "The last time we fought here. When I died, and we lost KO-35."

Andros' response was pained. "Could you please stop saying that?"

Zhane lifted his head, giving him a curious look. "What?" He knew, of course, but he preferred to feign innocence.

"That you died." Andros glared back at him. He knew Zhane knew what he was talking about. "You didn't die. You're here and you're fine and it's going to stay that way."

"I didn't die," Zhane echoed. He thought about that for a moment, debating the merits of voicing the truth. Finally he looked Andros straight in the eye and said, "But I lost you, didn't I?"

Andros just stared at him, and he would have given a lot to know what was going on behind those hazel eyes. Then Andros swallowed, glancing away, and Zhane had to strain to hear him when he muttered, "I didn't know."

"Didn't know what?" Zhane demanded, frustrated. "That I would live? That I would still love you? Or that you'd find Ashley?"

"You went out with every girl we knew!" Andros exclaimed. "Every time I turned around you were on another date! What was I supposed to think?"

"Name one girl that lasted more than two weeks!" Zhane stared at him, but Andros refused to meet his gaze. "I was never serious about any of them, and I told them that! Hell, I told *you* that a hundred times! Everyone knew it was just in fun!"

"If you weren't serious about them, how could I think you were serious about--" Andros broke off, studying the workstation with an intensity it didn't deserve. "Anyone else?"

In his voice Zhane heard the echo of the insecure boy Andros had once been, and it took the edge off of his anger. "I used to kiss you for good luck," he reminded his friend. "I said I love you more times than I can remember. If you thought I was just kidding around, why didn't you tell me to knock it off?"

"I know when you mean things," Andros admitted, lifting his gaze to Zhane's at last. "I just don't know how you mean them."

Zhane had to sigh. "How many different things can 'I love you' mean? It's not like I said it to everyone I met!"

"We were kids," Andros said quietly. "We were practically brothers, Zhane. After you were gone, I... I had a lot of time to think about it. And all I could think was that I must have been wrong, that you must have said those things because we were family and you knew it made me feel good to hear it."

"You think too much," Zhane muttered. "I told you it would get you into trouble."

"Well, you are the expert at getting into trouble," Andros offered.

Zhane gave him a brief smile. "I try. I do have a reputation to maintain, you know."

"So I've been told."

Neither of them said anything for a moment, but the silence was more comfortable than it had been of late. Andros broke it first, his words soft but measured. "You didn't lose me, Zhane."

Zhane didn't look up, tracing his fingers across the top of the workstation. "Maybe not," he agreed, watching the imaginary trails vanish in his minds' eye. "But things aren't the same anymore, are they."

Andros didn't answer, and he sighed.

"I won't hurt Ashley," he told the table. "I know she thinks you've broken up, but you haven't. You can't turn feelings on and off." He sensed Andros' surprised look, but he didn't mention the message she had left for him. 

Lifting his head again, he made himself catch Andros' eye. "I love you, but so does she. You guys have been together for a long time. I don't want to screw that up any more than I already have."

"You didn't screw anything up," Andros protested. "Ash left because of me, not you, and she only came back because she knows we need her. She's part of the team." 

"We're all part of the team," Zhane pointed out quietly. There were more people to worry about than just the two of them now. "It's bigger than it used to be, and it's more important than any of us. We can't let the three of us tear it apart with some stupid love triangle."

"So what are you saying?" Andros was staring at him with alarming intensity. "You think things aren't awkward enough already, so you're going to go back to sleeping with Tixe and pretending to be my friend and flirting with Ash and somehow miraculously everyone will be happy?!"

Zhane opened his mouth, but Andros wasn't done yet. "Do you really think that if we keep going the way we have been things will suddenly get better instead of worse?" he demanded. "We'll stop fighting? Ash will just accept it? Tixe won't care that I hate him for the rest of my life? Yeah, Zhane, that's a great idea. Why didn't I think of that!"

This time the silence between them crackled, and he found himself frozen in place. It was a fine line between critical indignation and genuine anger, and they were closer to it than usual lately. Zhane knew that all it would take was one of them walking out and they'd be right back where they started.

Andros looked away first, and the tension eased incrementally. "You can talk now," he muttered, his voice ruefully apologetic.

Zhane closed his mouth, still trying to get over his shock. "I'd rather not," he said carefully, feeling his lips quirk upward. "That was... one of your more logical temper tantrums."

"It wasn't a temper tantrum," Andros informed him. "And it only sounded logical because what you said was so dumb. Ash will never believe that I lied to her yesterday, and you've already proven that you can't hide your feelings worth anything."

"Hey!" Stung, Zhane reacted without thinking. "You said *you* didn't know!"

"And apparently I was the only one!" Andros retorted.

On the verge of another unthinking remark, Zhane caught himself just in time. "What did you lie to Ash about?" he wanted to know.

Andros paused. "I didn't lie," he said at last. "She already knew, anyway. Even before I told her about my vision."

"You told her about your vision?" Zhane repeated, dumbfounded. "Why?"

Andros shrugged as though the question had never occurred to him. "Because she deserved to know. And because she must have guessed when I tried to kiss you after you brought me back anyway."

"Guessed what?" He knew he was pushing his luck, but he couldn't help it. "You said she knew before you told her... what?"

Andros caught his eye. "That I love you," he said simply.

Zhane swallowed hard, but he found he couldn't look away. "Don't say that."

"Why not?" Andros wanted to know. "Why is all right for you to say it and not me? I know things are messed up right now, but ignoring it isn't going to make it any better!"

"If I had ignored it from the beginning things wouldn't be messed up at all!" Zhane burst out. "This sucks, Andros, and it's my fault! I knew you were with Ashley, but I waited around thinking maybe it wouldn't last. Then I had to go and sleep with Ty, who looks so much like you that even Astrea knew something was going on, and--"

"You're wrong," Andros interrupted. The words were quiet, but they were enough to stop Zhane in midsentence.

"About what?" He was too taken aback to be indignant.

"The ignoring part is my fault," Andros said softly. "You were right not to, and I was wrong. I knew how you felt. Or I should have known," he amended. "I should have said something, but I didn't. That's why I know we can't pretend this isn't happening--because we already tried that, and it didn't work."

"But if--"

"It didn't work," Andros repeated firmly. "We were never fighting over the Rangers, were we. We were fighting for each other's attention. At least I was... I thought you were ignoring me, and you probably thought I was ignoring you."

"You were," Zhane muttered. He saw the ghost of a smile on Andros' face.

"We can't keep doing that," Andros told him. "We can't lie to Ash, either. And if you keep spending all your time with Tixe I'm going to kill him, teammate or not. So let's find a way to figure this out instead of trying to cover it up."

"How?" Zhane demanded. "What can we possibly do?"

"If I knew," Andros said wryly, "there wouldn't be anything to figure out."

Zhane had to smile a little at that. "I guess that's fair enough," he admitted. "Any ideas on where to start?"

"Yeah," Andros answered, surprising him. "Several, actually. For one thing, we need to check in with your grandparents. I'm sure they know we're all right, but we should at least call. After that, I want to get a look at these new zords before we have to take them into battle again."

He frowned, as though contemplation of the immediate future had completely absorbed their conversation. "We also need to talk about Marsie's request, plus housing for Tixe when he gets back from Chessa Brook. But first--"

Andros stopped, giving Zhane an expectant look. "There's something you could do for me that would make me feel a lot better."

Distracted, he hadn't seen that one coming. "What's that?"

Andros walked over and pulled him to his feet, the gesture so casual that Zhane didn't even think about it until he was standing. Andros didn't step back, didn't even let go of his hand, his hazel eyes fixed on Zhane's. With sudden and breathtaking certainty, he knew what his best friend was about to do.

Then Andros' mouth was on his, warmth suffusing his awareness and making everything sparkle as he closed his eyes. The kiss was gentle and heartbreakingly familiar, and Zhane leaned into it without conscious thought. For one too-brief instant, there was nothing else in the world.

"Thanks," Andros breathed, pulling away carefully. "That was exactly it," he added, flashing a genuine smile that warmed the space between them.

"Anytime," Zhane managed. For once he was caught with nothing more clever to say, and the smirk that tugged at Andros' smile said he knew it.

In that moment, Zhane vowed to prove Andros right. They would figure out a way to make it work... because he wanted to do that again. And when the Silver Ranger decided to do something, he didn't let anything stand in his way.

_fin_


	16. Asunder

__

Disclaimer: Apparently Thomas Edison once said, "There ain't no rules around here! We're trying to accomplish something!" Henceforth, I shall try to embrace a similar philosophy. I shall also yell ANTHROPOPATHY at random intervals because I think it's a good word to know.

****

Asunder  
by Starhawk

The lights were loud and the music was louder, but conversation still swirled around him in more languages than he could identify. This part of KaliKay's might be designed to mimic Earth, but it was clearly frequented by more than just humans. Aliens surrounded him. Somehow, though, that made the Earth-human population stand out even more, and it made him wonder why exactly this place existed.

Not KaliKay's itself, of course. Almost every country on Earth had some version of a bar or dance club, and it looked like there were variations not only in other solar systems but other galaxies as well. But why recreate a club from a planet that barely even had spaceflight? What market was KaliKay's catering to with this particular environment?

There were two obvious options, he had decided earlier. One, Earth had a fan following that it didn't know about. Maybe some of those UFO stories weren't so far-fetched after all. Or two, the Power Rangers weren't the only human beings to find themselves habitually offplanet on Friday nights. 

He wasn't sure how he felt about either possibility. On the other hand, *he* was here. And when it came down to it, it wasn't such a bad way to spend the day after Thanksgiving.

He wondered idly what his parents would say when they found out that their daughter had been home for the first time since school started--and they had missed her. In point of fact, everyone had missed her. She had been on the planet for less than three hours. 

Jeff had still been asleep when Kerone showed up on his doorstop just before noon, and true to form, she hadn't let a little thing like that stop her. He would have been disappointed if she had, but the courtesies she observed when she clearly didn't have to amused him. When knocking hadn't worked, Kerone had broken in without any show of remorse and cranked up the stereo to get him out of bed.

Dragging himself down the stairs to see which of his roommates had cut their vacation short, it had taken him several minutes to comprehend what he was seeing. Kerone had been sprawled over the end of the couch, playing with Val's TV remote, while his sister rooted through the kitchen cupboards. She hadn't even turned around when he managed to stammer out a greeting, evidently preferring her hunt for coffee mugs to his surprise.

They had been gone for months, and then they just showed up in his living room as though it was nothing out of the ordinary. He shook his head, watching the dancers out on the floor and between the tables disperse as the set came to its inevitable end. It wasn't Amanda singing this time, but the words were still in English and he felt as though he ought to recognize the music from somewhere.

He could still see Kerone, sitting over at one of the tables by the window with someone who had introduced himself as "Jenkarta". Ashley, however, was nowhere to be found, and he scanned the bar again. She wouldn't have taken off on her own, would she?

Yes, he decided, remembering her mood at the apartment earlier. Apparently the girls had tried to track down both their former teammates before coming to him, but TJ and Carlos were elsewhere for the holiday. When he had finally gotten Ashley's attention away from the coffee, which he hadn't known she drank, she had barely said "hello" before she was crying in his arms.

He was about to stand up and go hunt for her when he saw the flash of yellow on the other side of the room. Kerone was dressed in black leather, which unfortunately made it almost impossible not to stare, his sister's friend or no. But Ashley was still wearing bright yellow, albeit an outfit he'd never seen before. After hearing the bare essentials of their "quest", he could only assume they were clothes she had kept on the Megaship.

She was dancing, which he could have ignored, despite the fact that it was with a stranger. She was also slow-dancing, which was much more questionable, and on top of that she was slow-dancing without music. That set off every Big Brother Alert he had. 

On the other hand, her partner wore a green vest with a star pattern that looked vaguely familiar. Sure enough, when he glanced over at Kerone again, he saw the same five-pointed insignia on Jenkarta's red vest. It was enough to identify them both as Rangers, even to the untrained eye, and that made Jeff hesitate.

"She's pretty far gone," said a voice to his right. "Unusual for a Ranger. Rough day?"

Jeff swung around in surprise. The voice came from a raven-haired woman leaning against the bar, blocking the seat beside him but not actually occupying it. She seemed to be speaking to him--in fact, she was giving him a politely expectant look that said she expected some sort of reply.

"Excuse me?" It was the only thing he could think of to say, considering he had no idea what she was talking about.

"Your friend." The woman nodded in the direction he had been staring, apparently referring to Ashley, though he had no idea how she had known they were together. "She's beyond drunk, you know. Most people will make allowances for a Ranger, but if she gets in someone's face you're going to have to get her out of here fast."

Alarmed, Jeff glanced back toward his sister. She seemed perfectly content to lean against her partner, her head on his shoulder as she ignored everything around her. Sure, it wasn't something he would have expected from her normally, but she had just broken up with her boyfriend after losing three months of her life. He thought she was entitled to a couple of beers.

"She's not really drunk, is she?" He turned a frown on the woman beside him. "I've been watching her since we got here, and she hasn't had that much. It's not like she's out of control or anything."

The woman gave him an odd look. "Do you know *what* she's been drinking?"

"Well..." He was forced to admit that he didn't. "No, I guess not."

The woman shook her head. "Let's just say that if I had to be on duty any time in the next rotation, I wouldn't even have one of those things. Targa's watching out for her right now, but if I were you I wouldn't let her out of my sight."

Belatedly, he realized there was a five-pointed star on the left side of her yellow vest. "Thank you," he said, wondering if he ought to go over and rescue the other Ranger right now. "Targa's your teammate? It's nice of you to look out for her like that."

"It's not exactly a chore for him," the woman pointed out, a smile curving her lips. "But she's obviously vulnerable right now, and Rangers watch each other's backs." She settled onto the seat next to him at last, holding out her hand. "I'm Natani, out of Eltare."

He took her hand out of reflex, not stopping to wonder how she knew to shake hands. "Jeff Hammond," he told her. "From Earth. But maybe you knew that."

She smiled again at his sudden wariness, shaking her head. "No. I've heard of Ashley and Kerone, though I have yet to meet either of them in person. But I don't think I've ever seen you here before."

Was that a pickup line, he wondered? "Probably because I'm not here very much," he offered, smiling in return. In fact, he had only been to KaliKay's twice in his life, but there was no reason to tell her that. "Ashley's having kind of a bad night, so Kerone and I brought her here to relax."

"You certainly succeeded in that," Natani remarked. "Are you her teammates, then?"

He was both flattered that she would think so and disappointed that he had to correct her. "Kerone is," he admitted. "I'm not a Ranger, but Ashley's my sister."

"I see." The woman looked past him once more, and he couldn't help following her gaze. "You're considerably more tolerant than I would be, in that case."

The Green Eltaran Ranger was leading Ashley toward the door, her head still on his shoulder and his arm around her waist. Jeff was on his feet before he thought, ready to intercept them before they could get past the bar. "Not that tolerant," he said over his shoulder.

To his surprise, Natani was right behind him as he made his way through the crowd. Whether she meant to intercede on his behalf or that of her teammate's, he didn't know, and as it turned out he didn't get to find out. As he caught up with Ashley, Kerone seemed to appear out of thin air at his side.

"Andros said she doesn't drink," the sorceress remarked, sounding puzzled.

"Living up to Andros' expectations probably isn't high on her priority list right now," Jeff told her. Only when she gave him a surprised look did he realize that her comment hadn't been directed at him.

Jenkarta was with her, scanning the crowd around them while Natani said something to the Ranger supporting Ashley. He gave her over to Jeff and Kerone without protest, flashing each of them a carefully apologetic look. Interestingly, his teammate moved to stand beside him, while their leader continued to watch the room.

"I meant no disrespect," the man Natani had called "Targa" offered. "I knew you must be watching out for her, but when she said she wished to leave, I could not get your attention without offending her."

Ashley seemed past offending to Jeff, but he didn't say so. His sister draped herself over him with no complaint or even acknowledgement that her partner had changed. He couldn't tell if she was sleepy or unaware or maybe both, but Kerone had a steadying hand on her other elbow and it was probably a good thing.

"Thank you for taking care of her," she was telling Targa. "I shouldn't have left her alone so long."

"Sometimes strangers sympathize better than friends," he replied cryptically. "It was no burden, I assure you."

He and Natani both offered apparently sincere wishes for Ashley's recovery, but Jenkarta's farewell was distracted at best. The Red Eltaran Ranger seemed to barely notice their departure. It wasn't until they were back aboard the Megaship--in the medical bay, since Ashley was by now completely unresponsive--that the obvious question occurred to Jeff.

"What were they doing there?" he wanted to know, watching Kerone hold a medscanner over his sister's prone form. She shot him an odd look, and he added, "That room in particular, I mean, not KaliKay's in general."

She shrugged, doing something to the medscanner. "Eltarans like Earth. I don't really know why."

"Hey," he objected.

"I didn't mean it that way," she said calmly, not looking up. "I have nothing against Earth. I just don't know what specific reason the Eltarans have for liking it so much. If there is one."

Kerone tossed the medscanner down before he could answer and added, "She's out, and she's drugged enough that even with an antidote she won't wake up for hours. I honestly don't know if she wants that or not."

Jeff stiffened. "Antidote? What was she drinking down there?"

"I don't know," Kerone said, shaking her head. "I don't drink. I wouldn't know one thing from another. But apparently whatever it was wasn't alcoholic, at least by your standards. There was something else in it."

"Something dangerous?" Jeff persisted. "Did she know what she was doing, or did she just get lucky?"

Kerone sighed, though whether her impatience was directed at him or his sister he couldn't tell. "I don't know," she repeated. "DECA can get most of it out of her system, if you think that's what she'd want. But whatever's already been absorbed is going to keep her unconscious for a while."

"It's what I want," he said firmly. "If she wants to forget, there are better ways to do it."

Kerone hesitated. "I agree," she said at last. "But--"

"She wasn't thinking," Jeff reminded her. "Just do it. She can blame me later, and I'll tell her I bullied you into it."

To her credit, Kerone didn't laugh. But she did smile, just enough that he knew she found the thought of being bullied amusing. He watched as she administered DECA's "antidote", and he wondered if Ashley would wake up with a hangover. 

Serve her right, he thought, but he felt a twinge of sympathy. He'd been dumped once or twice himself, and he hadn't taken it much better. He supposed she wouldn't thank him for reminding Andros that the girl he had dumped was someone's little sister... but the idea was tempting.

"So, the Kerovan team," Jeff said aloud, reminding himself that the two of them were still teammates. Anything he did to Andros would only make things more awkward than they already were. "Are you the Black Ranger, or what?"

Kerone gave him a wide-eyed look, and he nodded pointedly at her outfit. She did laugh, then, but it was a friendly sound instead of a derisive one. "No," she said, sinking down onto the edge of the patient bed. "But I refuse to wear purple for the rest of my life, just because I happen to have a morpher."

"Don't Rangers wear their colors for a reason?" He tried to picture her in purple leather, and he wondered if she might be the one person in the universe that could pull it off. "Ashley's complained about it before. She says she feels terrible if she doesn't wear yellow."

Kerone shrugged. "It hasn't bothered me yet."

"Have you morphed yet?" Jeff wanted to know. "Ashley says it's worse right after a fight."

She frowned at that. "No," she said slowly. "I haven't. I didn't think of that."

She glanced down at something that was suddenly in her hand, and Jeff blinked. She hadn't been holding anything a moment ago, he was sure of that. And she certainly hadn't been holding a violet-tinted replica of Zhane's digimorpher.

Kerone flipped it open and punched in a code before he even realized what she was doing. Unfamiliar numbers ghosted from the digimorpher in holographic gold, mimicking the old astromorphers, and the whir of confirmation vibrated through the room. There was a bright flash of light--

And Kerone sat before him, still clad in her bar clothes and wearing a bemused expression. "That's strange," she said, staring at her digimorpher. "Maybe I'm not doing it right."

"You duplicated Zhane's code precisely," DECA offered unexpectedly. "Your Power signature, however, is weaker than that of any other Ranger I have observed."

"What does that mean?" Kerone demanded. "I have the Power, but I can't use it?"

"Did you have prior knowledge of Zhane's code?" DECA countered.

Kerone looked taken aback. "No. I never asked."

"Then clearly you are drawing on the Power in some way. Involuntary knowledge of Ranger procedure, ability, and zord operation are granted to all those who hold the Power." DECA's camera light flickered. "Why you did not morph, however, is a question I can't answer."

This time, Kerone triggered her morpher and thrust her right hand out. "Let's Rocket!"

The characteristic sound-and-light show repeated itself, but nothing else happened. "Well," Kerone said, shaking her head. "At least I won't have to worry about color withdrawal."

"What about the others?" Jeff wondered aloud. "Have they tried morphing? I mean, what good is it to have the Power if you can't morph?"

"The others can morph," Kerone said with a kind of resigned certainty. "Ty and Ashley fought in their zords this afternoon. Maybe Andros hasn't tried yet, but there's no reason he wouldn't be able to."

"There's no reason you shouldn't be able to, either," Jeff pointed out. "You went on the quest with everyone else, right? You've been gone, anyway..."

Kerone swung her legs, staring down at her feet as she kicked the patient bed gently. "I was on the quest," she agreed. She didn't say anything else.

"Should I just not ask?" Jeff suggested at last. It looked like a good time to change the subject. "Do you want to go home, or stay here on the Megaship until Ashley wakes up?"

"I'm not human," Kerone said abruptly. She kicked her feet against the base of the patient bed again. "They warned me that it might cause problems."

Jeff just stared at her, waiting for the punchline. It sounded like something Zhane would say, delivered with that same neutrality that was just convincing enough to be real, followed by a smirk or outright laughter depending on his audience. His practical jokes must be contagious.

When no more explanation was forthcoming, however, he started to wonder. "What did you just say?" he asked finally.

"I'm not human. I'm magic. Ecliptor made me magic so I could survive after I was kidnapped. When I went on the quest, I was told that it might be hard for me to hold the Power because I'm not human anymore."

"But..." Jeff's mind stumbled over that for several seconds before he came up with anything even remotely intelligent to say. "But aliens hold the Power all the time. There are plenty of alien Rangers!"

"I'm not alien," she said, still staring at the floor. "I'm not even alive. I guess the Power doesn't like that."

"You have all the vital statistics of a human being," DECA interjected. "And for the most part, they fall within accepted ranges. What makes you say you're not alive?"

There was silence for a moment.

"I don't think we should go home," Kerone said at last. "Ashley's not going to want to deal with the others for a while. But we can't sit in orbit around KaliKay's for the rest of the night, either."

Kerone slid off the patient bed and wandered toward the door, resettling herself against the doorframe. Folding her arms, she gazed down the corridor as though waiting for someone to come around the corner. "Where do you want to go, Jeff?"

"Me?" He glanced at DECA's camera for help, wondering if she wanted to press the issue. He wasn't a diagnostic computer, but Kerone seemed alive enough to him.

"Earth may not be any better for her emotional state than KO-35 right now," DECA remarked, as though they had been talking about Ashley all along. "You do have friends on Elisia, however."

He saw Kerone lift her head at that, though she didn't turn to look at them. "Do you need to be getting back?" she asked. The question was clearly directed at him. "I know Ashley left messages for everyone, but if you don't want to disappear..."

"Hey, I'm on vacation," Jeff said quickly. There was no way he was going to pass this up. "I've always wanted to see Elisia. Besides, Ashley will probably want someone to yell at, and it might as well be me."

He got the impression that Kerone was smiling. "I'll be sure to let her know you said so."

***

Dark. Loud. And worst of all, uncomfortable. 

The noise was in her head, she thought. Of course, the pain probably was too. Maybe. The darkness was definitely real, though. And if it was nighttime, that meant she could go back to sleep. That way she wouldn't have to worry about where she was, or why she felt like something the cat had dragged in and spit out.

But then there was the discomfort factor. She was used to waking up with the aches of battle, but she hadn't felt sick in a long time. Now she was not only sick, but utterly disoriented as she tried to place the mattress underneath her and the faint patterns of light on the ceiling.

Sitting up didn't help, but after her head stopped swimming, she decided that at least she wasn't in her room in Keyota. It wasn't her bed, for one thing. The walls were in the wrong place, too, and it didn't seem likely that they had suddenly rearranged themselves just to confuse her. So where was she?

Light through an open door was her only direction. Shadows kept getting in her way, although they didn't materialize into actual objects more than twice. Finally she realized that every time she shifted her gaze the lights were leaving an afterimage on her eyes. Pretty, but not helpful.

The air felt funny as she wavered in the doorway, squinting toward the lights in an effort to make them look like something she recognized. There was something wrong with them, but she couldn't pin down exactly what it was. She slid her feet carefully over the hard ground, keeping her hand against the wall as she moved toward--

Lighted windows? She stopped, glancing upward as it suddenly occurred to her that she wasn't inside anymore. She was looking at a building from the outside. Yet there was a roof over her head, and the temperature was no different here than it had been in the place where she had woken up.

She had to be dreaming. It was the only explanation that made any sense. She tried to remember where she had been when she went to sleep. If she knew where she was, it would be easier to wake up.

A snuffling sound made her hug the nearest wall instinctively, heart racing as she cast about for the source of the noise. Unfortunately, the vague outlines generated by the lights weren't enough to identify whatever was moving around out there. She held her breath as the sound came closer, tensing as a rhythmic clicking began and increased.

Then something butted her knees, and between the fright and the darkness she lost her balance. She was on the ground before she knew what had happened, trying to ward off whatever was attacking her and not having much success--

"Jetson?" It was a voice she should know, pitched lower than usual and far enough away that she barely heard it at all. But suddenly she knew her assailant, and knew too that it wasn't an assailant at all. Attackers didn't climb all over you in their effort to lick your face, and that was exactly what this one was trying to do.

"Jetson!" Cassie's voice was closer this time, and she must have been able to see something in the darkness, for she asked, "Who's that?"

All she could manage was a muffled yelp as Jetson put his paw on her shoulder and stuck his nose in her face, knocking her hard enough that she almost hit her head on the wall. Then he was gone, hauled back by a shadow with Cassie's voice. "Oh, Ash, I'm so sorry! I didn't even know you were awake--he didn't hurt you, did he? Are you all right?"

"I'm okay," she mumbled, wondering what Cassie was doing in her dream. "Where am I?"

"You're at the Ranger compound on Elisia." Cassie must have let go of Jetson, because there was a hand on her arm and fingers groping for hers. "Can you get up? He didn't mean to knock you over; it's just that he hasn't seen you in so long..."

"It's okay," she repeated, reaching for the wall with her free hand as she wavered. Cassie moved a little closer, linking their arms together as she stood and pulling her away from the wall. "What are you--where are we going?"

"Inside where it's light," her friend said firmly. "I want to be able to see you before I believe you're all right. How do you feel?"

"Like I'm dreaming," she murmured. Then she thought about that for a moment and corrected, "Like I have the flu and I'm dreaming." 

She frowned down at one of the lights as they passed it, and it occurred to her that it was floating. It was just barely above the ground, not resting on it, but there was nothing to hold it there. "Why are the lights floating?" she wanted to know.

"They're easier to move that way." Cassie sounded distracted, and when she looked up she realized they had stopped. "Is the light inside going to bother you? Kerone said she didn't know whether you'd be hungover or not."

There was Kerone, in the doorway in front of them. She made an effort to smile. "Hi, Kerone. What are you doing here?"

"Catching up on the news," Kerone answered. "How are you feeling?"

She tried to give the question more thought this time. "Disgusting," she said at last. "If I'm not dreaming, what are we doing on Elisia? Have we been here a long time?"

"No," Kerone said, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder as Cassie helped her through the door. "We've been here since we left KaliKay's a few hours ago. Jeff's sleeping. Cassie's filling me in on what's been going on in the universe lately."

She was quiet a moment, thinking about that. Why would Kerone need Cassie to tell her what was going on? What was Jeff doing here? And what could they possibly have been doing at KaliKay's? She hadn't been there since graduation.

"I can stand on my own, you know," she said, as Cassie pulled out a chair for her. She sat down hard when her friend let go, and she made a token face. "I think."

"DECA said you might be a little out of it when you woke up," Kerone offered, perching on the edge of the table. "I guess you drank some weird stuff earlier. Do you remember?"

There was a gentle pressure against her leg, and she looked down to find Jetson leaning on her, staring up at her with adoring eyes. His tail thumped against the floor when she looked at him, and she smiled involuntarily. "Hey Jetson," she murmured, dropping her hand to pat his head. "What's up?"

Oddly, he reminded her of a shadow looming over her, a giant growling shadow that had knocked fighters out of the sky to protect her. The cats, the quest, and the Power came rushing back, and she frowned a little. "Wait... what's today?"

"The second day of Jeminai rising," Kerone answered promptly.

Her eyes widened, and she glanced at Cassie. Then she blinked, taking in her friend's form in full light for the first time. "Cassie, what--" She blurted the words out before she could think, but when her mind caught up with her tongue she had no idea how to finish the question.

Her friend smiled, a little sheepishly, which was a strange expression on her. "I'm pregnant," she said, shrugging as though it didn't much matter. "Twins."

Ashley just stared at her. "What?"

Cassie actually laughed at her surprise, putting a possessive hand over her rounded stomach. "I'm pregnant with twins," she repeated, more proudly this time. "I'd tell you when, but between the species thing and the time difference, no one's exactly sure."

There was no way to answer that, so she settled for staring some more.

"It's Thanksgiving on Earth," Cassie volunteered, when she didn't say anything. "If that helps any. You guys were gone a long time... but I guess you knew that."

Jeff. She and Kerone had gone back to Earth after the quest, and everyone but Jeff had been on Thanksgiving break. The three of them had gone to KaliKay's, partly to celebrate and partly to--

Ashley swallowed hard. She hadn't been at KaliKay's to celebrate. The remembering was a lot harder than the forgetting had been, but it was finally catching up with her. She understood belatedly that she was feeling a lot better than she had any right to, given the circumstances.

"You all right?" Cassie asked uncertainly. "You don't look so good."

She looked at Kerone, just to be sure, and the sympathy in the other girl's eyes confirmed it. "We broke up, didn't we," she breathed. It wasn't any easier to say the second time. "He dumped me for Zhane."

"Actually, you dumped him," Kerone corrected. "That's kind of different."

She looked down, but Cassie must have seen the tears in her eyes before she could hide them. "Not different enough to matter, though," the other girl said quietly. It was hard to tell whether that was for her benefit or Kerone's.

Ashley slid down out of her chair to sit next to Jetson, wrapping her arms around him and leaning her head against hers. "I want a dog," she whispered, as he tried to lick her face. "Dogs are good, aren't they, Jetson."

Then something occurred to her, and she straightened abruptly. "The kittens! Where are they?"

"They're with TJ and Max," Cassie reassured her, bracing her arms awkwardly on her chair as she lowered herself to the floor too. "DECA took them to Earth when you guys disappeared. I guess she didn't trust anyone on KO-35 to take care of alien pets."

Ashley sighed, relaxing a little. "They probably won't even recognize us," she muttered. "Well," she amended, "not that Andros probably wants them..." She felt tears pricking her eyelids again and she stared intently at Jetson, hoping no one would notice.

"Hey," Cassie said quietly. "It's going to be okay, Ash."

"Easy for you to say," she muttered. She tried to smile to take the sting out of her words, but she couldn't help the bitterness that crept into her tone. "Miss Married With Children." 

There was no ignoring the awkward silence that fell then, but Kerone eased the tension a little by sliding off the edge of the table and joining them on the floor. She didn't speak, but the movement was at least a distraction. Ashley wasn't sure she would take the words back even if she could.

"I know," Cassie said at last. "I know it's easy to say that when you're not the one dealing with it. But it hasn't all been wine and roses here, either, and we're still managing."

She refused to ask, but Kerone did it for her. "Is there anything we can do?" the sorceress wanted to know.

Cassie shook her head once, shifting a little as she tried to get comfortable on the floor. "There's nothing anyone can do, really. We just have to deal with things one day at a time, like everyone else."

Ashley swallowed, still staring down at the floor. "What happened?"

"Life," Cassie said matter-of-factly. "I was in a hover crash. Billy says the dimensional shifting may have affected the twins in ways we can't see yet. Saryn collapsed in front of planetary cameras when his empathy screwed him over. His credibility's shot, the babies are hurting, and on top of everything else, Jetson caught some weird recycled air disease that means he can't leave Elisia ever again."

Ashley opened her mouth, then closed it again. "I can't believe it's been so long," she murmured at last. "It feels like we just left yesterday. We *did* just leave yesterday..."

"Is Saryn all right?" Kerone wanted to know. "He looked okay earlier, but I can never tell with him. Is the Frontier Defense supporting him, at least?"

"He resigned just before all this happened," Cassie said with a sigh. "Which turned out to be good, because then they didn't have to be all noble about keeping him even though he was breaking his own planet's laws. But it also made it pretty much impossible for them to defend him, and unfortunately the government isn't taking it too well."

"Wait," Ashley broke in uncertainly. "What happened, again? Who's mad at Saryn?"

Jetson growled, startling her, and she turned wide eyes on him as he lifted his head and barked once in the direction of the door. His hackles were up, but otherwise he seemed perfectly content to go on lying next to her on the floor. He growled again before resting his head on her leg once more, keeping a wary eye on the door.

"Hi, Kyril," Cassie said, without even turning.

A shadow drifted through the open door, and the darkness seemed to cling to him even a moment after he had stepped into the light. Ashley blinked and the effect vanished, leaving a perfectly ordinary figure in its wake. Or almost ordinary...

Hands in the pockets of a blue tunic that hung loosely off his shoulders, he ambled across the room toward them. He even slouched a little, reminding her of Zhane with his deliberately casual air. He was going to such lengths to appear unremarkable, in fact, that it took her a second to recognize the one thing he couldn't disguise.

His footsteps were silent. Not quiet, not muffled, not even inaudible, she was sure. They were utterly silent. Jetson made no further objections to his presence, but there was no doubt in her mind that his growl had been directed at this ghost.

"_Ani mara_," he said easily, leaning against the nearest table and regarding them with a look of detached amusement. "Good morning."

"Don't you ever sleep?" Cassie wanted to know, craning her neck to look up at him.

"Sometimes," he said with a grin. "Just for the fun of it."

If Cassie's nonchalance had given her any doubts, his answer had dispelled them. Andros had told her about people like this on the Border, where magic of all kinds made the improbable possible. The Eltaran voyagers had originated back when Eltare, not Elisia, had marked the boundary of League space, and they had once been just as unusual.

She was on her feet before she knew what was happening, but when she poked him in the shoulder her eyes widened. "You're solid!" she exclaimed, startled. She blushed a little at the look he gave her, and behind her she heard Cassie laugh.

"That's her standard alien test," her friend offered from her place on the floor. "Whenever she meets a new race she has to poke them. No one knows why."

"Better than shooting first and poking later," he said, giving her a long-suffering look. "I'm used to it."

"But how can you be solid?" Ashley demanded. "I shouldn't be able to poke you!"

He shrugged. "What's solid? The universe is just energy, the same as us. I'm as corporeal as I want to be--or not." He reached out to poke her in return, and before she could back away his hand went right through her. 

He grinned at her startled expression. "Is that more what you were expecting?"

"How did you do that?" Kerone wanted to know. "Are you a sorcerer?"

"I'm Kyril," he answered, glancing over at her. "I'd rather not label myself more than that, unless it makes you uncomfortable."

Kerone looked nonplussed at that, but she didn't reply. It was the first time in a long while that Ashley had seen her at a loss for words, but she supposed Kyril would have that effect on a lot of people. She had so many questions she didn't even know where to start.

A blast of cold air caught her completely off guard, and the howl that assaulted her ears was second only to the flashing red of the evacuation alert. The night was shattered by Cassie's scream as she found herself waking from a dream she hadn't realized she'd been having. Everyone was talking at once, trying to be heard over the terrifying shriek of decompression, and through her disorientation there was only one thing Ashley was sure of.

The Megaship was under attack.

***

One moment he was in the zord bay beneath the hills of Keyota, helping Zhane calibrate a new systems bank to be compatible with the redesigned Kerovan Security Network. The next moment Andros found himself on the Bridge of the Megaship, his stomach twisting uncomfortably in the failing gravity as the lights flickered and the air thinned. His mind couldn't process what was happening, but adrenaline--or the Power--kicked in as he shoved Zhane toward the lift and shouted at the others to move.

Cassie was slumped over the weapons console, and he had her in his arms before he had time to think about what he was doing. "Get out!" he shouted again, seeing TJ hesitate by the lift. It was a noble gesture, waiting for the others to escape, but it was foolish and impractical when DECA was the only thing keeping the hull breach safeties from activating.

He was already breathing harder as the air pressure fell, and he saw Zhane pulling Carlos into the lift behind TJ. His vision sparkled with black, but someone caught his arms as he stumbled, buffeted by escaping atmosphere and clinging desperately to that lifeline. Ashley hauled him into the lift and helped cushion his fall as the door struggled to close behind them.

The bulkhead outside the lift slammed into place, sealing the Bridge off from the rest of the ship. The lift door slid closed at last and oxygen flooded into the little compartment, alleviating the darkness at the edges of his vision as he gasped for breath. They were moving, he realized distantly, and he thanked DECA silently for whatever power she had in reserve.

"What the hell is going on?" TJ demanded, crawling over to rest his hand against the side of Cassie's neck. "How did we get here? And what's going on?"

"Don't look at me," Andros managed, sucking in another welcome breath. "I don't know any more than you do."

"Anyone?" Carlos glanced around, but no answer seemed forthcoming. "What are we doing on the Megaship?"

"We left the Megaship in orbit around KO-35." Zhane shifted, sliding his arm around Andros' shoulders and helping him up. Andros shot him a grateful look, but the Silver Ranger was already frowning down at Cassie. "We need to get her to the Medical bay."

"Not in battle, I'm guessing?" Carlos suggested wryly. "Why are people shooting at us?"

"The Megaship is not under attack at this time," a voice interjected. It was feminine and vaguely artificial, but it certainly wasn't DECA. "There are hull breaches on decks one, five, and six, and there is a fire on deck four that I am still in the process of containing. As soon as it has been put out and the hall is repressurized, you will be able to access the Medical bay."

Andros and Ashley exchanged startled glances, but Carlos beat them to the punch. "Who are you?" he demanded, looking around as though he could see the source of the voice. "Where's DECA?"

"This is DECA's day off," the voice said tartly. "As you well know. I'll thank you to treat me as the fully qualified control op I am, instead of as a second rate replacement."

"Whoa, wait a minute," TJ cut in. "No one's calling anyone second rate. You got us out of whatever mess we were just in, and we're grateful. We're just a little confused about what's going on."

"JT has warned you repeatedly that transition is disorienting," the voice replied. "You have complained of the phenomenon often enough yourselves, yet you were not prepared? Forgive me if I wonder what you *were* expecting--and why you're complaining about something that saved your lives."

"We're not complaining," Ashley began uncertainly, but Carlos interrupted her.

"I am," he retorted. "What are we doing here? And where's DECA?"

"Carlos." TJ shot a stifling glare in his direction. Carlos just rolled his eyes and looked away, but he didn't say anything more.

"JT?" Andros repeated, a sinking feeling in his stomach. He didn't know anyone named JT... but Justin did. "How long have we been on the Megaship? Who were we fighting?"

"The Astro Rangers have been on the Megaship for the past 7.63 days. You have been engaged in classified reconnaissance on Dark Spectre's latest battleship, which turned out to be less theoretical than expected. If it weren't for JT's intervention you would not have survived the encounter."

"Dark Spectre's latest battleship?" Ashley echoed. She sounded almost as numb as he felt. She must have recognized the name too.

"The Dark Fortress," the voice replied impatiently. "Commanded by Astronema, and reinforced by a hundred plus velocifighters? If you are attempting to play some sort of prank on me, I assure you, it is not amusing."

"It's not so funny from where we are, either," Zhane told her. "We don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about."

"Yes, we do," Andros said heavily. "KERI, is that you?"

"Who else would be operating the Megaship in DECA's absence?" the computer demanded.

Andros sighed, trying to ignore the look Zhane was giving him. This was definitely one of those stories he should have told his friend earlier, and in detail. "Can you contact JT from here? We're going to need to talk to him."

"Who's JT?" Carlos wanted to know, but a look from TJ silenced him again.

"We lost the comm shortly before transition," KERI answered, sounding a little less defensive this time. "Do you--" He'd never heard the computer stop in the middle of a sentence before. "You truly don't remember?"

"We're not who you think we are, KERI." Andros glanced over at Carlos, who was staring at him in disbelief. TJ was frowning, but at least he didn't look quite so incredulous. They hadn't even gotten to the unbelievable part yet. "Whatever JT did, it must have switched your Rangers with their counterparts from our dimension. Us," he elaborated, in case it wasn't clear.

"It seems that there is precedent for that in the experimental data," KERI agreed, after a miniscule pause. Andros had no doubt that she had reviewed whatever information she had in that split-second hesitation. "It is, in fact, why the technology has not yet been approved. Circumstances demanded action, however, and JT must have decided your lives were worth the risk."

"Generous of him," Zhane remarked. "Care to fill the rest of us in?"

"That's why Tessa had to morph," TJ said unexpectedly. "The side effects of the experiment were affecting Cassie's pregnancy, and Justin thought it had to do with the Pink Power. Tessa had to use it before it would transfer fully..."

"Perhaps it was not the Power after all," KERI replied, as though she knew exactly what he was talking about. "Perhaps the dimensional doorways opened by transition are attracted to something else entirely. Our Cassandra has been kept out of the testing as a precautionary measure ever since."

"Is that what this is about?" Carlos looked wary. "The experiments Justin's been doing? Those visions he warned us about never lasted this long--"

"The environment on deck four is now within tolerable parameters," KERI interrupted. The door slid open, and a wave of acrid heat flooded into the lift. At the same moment, Cassie began to stir, fingers clenching on Ashley's as she rolled her head to the side. 

"Cassie?" TJ and Ashley both tried to keep her down, but she was determined not to stay. She pushed their hands away awkwardly, struggling to sit up, and finally TJ helped her instead of trying to restrain her. "Are you okay?"

"Where's Saryn?" she demanded, eyes wide as she stared around at the walls of the lift. "I can't feel him; where is he? What's going on?"

"Cassie, take it easy," TJ soothed. "It's all right, you just lost consciousness there for a while. How are you feeling?"

Cassie turned her gaze on him, but there was nothing familiar in her dark eyes. If she was seeing him at all, she definitely didn't recognize him. "Where's Saryn!" she shouted. "Did you sedate him? This isn't his fault!"

"Cassie--" Ashley tried to put a hand on her shoulder and was instantly shrugged off. Andros got the feeling that if Cassie had been in any shape to leap to her feet, she would have.

"What did you do to him!" Cassie tried to twist away from them, but she flinched as though she'd been kicked in the stomach. Wrapping her arms around herself, she closed her eyes and bent over her abdomen protectively.

"Cassie," Ashley murmured again. She reached out to her friend, more tentatively this time, but Cassie didn't react. Sliding closer, Ashley wrapped her arm around Cassie's shoulders and hugged her awkwardly. "It's going to be okay, Cassie."

Cassie drew in a shuddering breath, but she didn't lift her head. "It hurts," she said, so softly that Andros barely heard her. "It hurts a lot."

"We need to take you to the Medical bay," Ashley said, just as softly. "Do you think you can stand up, if we help you?"

There was a pause, and then Cassie's head bobbed once. "Sorry, Ash," she whispered, still not looking up. "I didn't realize it was you."

"It's okay." Ashley caught TJ's eye, and he moved closer without a word. Between the two of them, they helped Cassie to her feet, and Andros grabbed Zhane's hand automatically. His friend pulled him up, and Carlos preceded everyone out into the corridor.

They didn't get more than a few steps before the teleportation stream wrapped them up and yanked them off of the Megaship altogether. The room that replaced the metal corridor was considerably cooler, better lit, and much less ragged around the edges. It was also completely unfamiliar.

"Sorry about the--"

Andros spun at the sound of the voice, and two things registered simultaneously. One was that the woman addressing was Linnse. The second was that she had broken off midsentence to gape at Cassie.

"Linnse?" TJ sounded wary, but she pushed him out of the way without regard for his hesitation. "What are you doing here?"

"Help me get her over there," Linnse was saying to Ashley. "What happened? TJ, reroute the diagnostic scanner so we don't have to move her. Lie down, okay?" she told Cassie, as she and Ashley got her onto one of the patient beds. "We're going to take care of you."

"Is anyone else hurt?" she asked, lifting her head to give them all a quick once over. "TJ, what are you just standing around for? At least toss me the portable scanner; it's on the table next to you."

"Linnse," Andros began uncertainly. "Is JT around somewhere?"

"He's in Co-Op," she said, nodding when TJ held up the scanner. She caught it one-handed and turned it on Cassie without needing to calibrate it first. She must have been expecting them. "He'll probably be down soon. He was pretty worried about putting you through transition with no warning."

A door slid open almost before she finished speaking, and Justin's identical twin came bursting through. He actually caught the doorframe to slow his momentum, though it took him another three or four steps to stop moving completely. He was out of breath, and his gaze flicked over each of them in the time it took to blink--until it came to rest on Cassie.

JT's eyes widened, and then, uncharacteristically, he swore. He sought out Andros again, and it was obvious he didn't need to be told. "The dimension shift--"

"There were a few problems," Andros finished.

"This isn't good," JT muttered. "For one thing, they're going to be freaking out. For another, the generator is compromised..."

His expression told Andros exactly what that meant, but Ashley had to ask. "You can't send us back?" she guessed.

JT sighed. "I can't even get a message to Justin, let alone swap anyone back. Linnse, please tell me the twins are okay."

Linnse had been staring at the scanner in dismay, but now she lifted her startled gaze to his. "How did you know? And how can she be pregnant? They've only been gone a few days!"

"These aren't our Rangers," JT said, moving over to the patient bed to peer down at Cassie. "Ours are lost somewhere in their dimension--I hope. They're stuck there, too. At least until I can calibrate an uncontaminated power source, and who knows how long that will take."

"My babies?" Cassie pleaded, holding Linnse's gaze.

"I--" Linnse shifted uncomfortably, but she didn't look back at the scanner. "As far as I can tell, they're okay. How are you feeling?"

Cassie closed her eyes, letting out a shaking breath. "As long as they're okay, it doesn't matter," she murmured. "I'm fine."

"That's ridiculous," Linnse snapped, some of her shock overtaken by indignation. "As long as you're pregnant, your welfare is theirs. How are you feeling?" 

Cassie looked up at her in surprise, and Andros decided to get JT's attention again. "So when you say we're stuck here, what exactly do you mean? Last time it took a few hours to get everything up and running again. Is it going to take that long this time?"

JT turned reluctantly. "This is a little different," he said evasively. "Then we were sending a couple of people from one dimension to another. Now we're talking about an entire battleship going through multiple dimensions--"

"How long?" TJ interrupted.

"Days, at least," JT admitted. "Maybe weeks. With the way the war's going... well, you could be here for a while."

"Yet another excuse my professors will love," Carlos muttered, exchanging glances with TJ. "'I'm sorry; I couldn't make the final because I was stuck in another dimension.'"

TJ shrugged philosophically. "At least it's better than 'I couldn't attend graduation because I was kidnapped by my evil clone.'"

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Andros asked, uncomfortably aware that there were aspects of this dimension that might come as a bit of a surprise to the others. He wasn't sure how he felt about being stuck here for an extended period of time.

JT met his gaze squarely. "Yeah. You can morph and take the Eltarans' patrol while I brief them. I know you guys have your own lives, but we were short even before we lost an entire Ranger team. Anything you can do to compensate for that would be appreciated."

Taken aback, Andros could only nod. "Of course," he agreed automatically.

"Patrol?" TJ repeated. "What patrol?"

"The patrol that's the only thing keeping this planet from ground invasion and defeat at the hands of Dark Spectre." JT tossed the words over his shoulder as he headed for the door. "I'm sorry if that disrupts your studies, but if we're lucky maybe it will keep all of us alive another day."

_fin_


	17. Different Circumstances

__

Disclaimer: The moon is backwards in Tasmania. Oliver the yellow lab puppy reminds me of Legolas. Suzy has a black cat named Ash. Saban copyrighted "Power Rangers" but not rucksacks. I don't understand that, because really, which one is more versatile?

****

Different Circumstances  
by Starhawk

For just a moment, everything was right in the world. Drifting in the hazy realm between dreams and wakefulness, she felt Saryn's gentle caress against her skin, and she let out a contented sigh as she turned toward him. He wasn't lying beside her, though, and she cracked her eyes just enough to see what had gotten him up.

It was darker than she'd expected, and all she could make out was his shadowy form perched on the edge of the bed. She frowned a little, realizing she didn't recognize their room. "Saryn?" she whispered, confused.

"I know I shouldn't have come," he murmured, stroking her cheek again. "But I had to see for myself that you are well."

The dull ache in her abdomen was enough to remind her. "Justin promised," she said with a sigh. She reached up to catch his hand and kiss his fingers comfortingly. "He promised nothing would hurt our babies."

She felt him stiffen, and suddenly his presence was gone from her side. Before she could protest, dim illumination flooded the room. The last lingering wisps of sleep vanished as she recognized the medical bay on Eltare--the place to which she had been brought after a third wrenching dimension shift had finally succeeded in tearing her away from home.

Saryn stood over her, but he was a spectre in Phantom black rather than Elisian red. His hair was short enough to spike, too long to be neat but too short to lay flat. His eyes were as sharply blue as ever, but they were flat and unrevealing, with none of the echo that she was used to.

"Cassandra?" The word was little more than a whisper as his eyes traveled across her figure. "What happened?"

He didn't know. She struggled to sit up, knowing it was some indication of his trust in her that there was no wariness in his tone. He had no suspicion that she was anything other than who he expected her to be, no idea that the person he had come to see was lost somewhere in another dimension.

"I'm not... Cassandra," she said, swallowing hard. There was the wariness, now, his features going blank as he hardened his heart against her. It hurt, no matter what she tried to tell herself. It hurt to see him look at her like that.

"Your presence has something to do with JT's emergency briefing," he said impassively. "I excused myself on the pretext of repairs, making an assumption I should not have made. At least--" His composure faltered for a moment, and he looked away. "At least tell me where she is."

He was putting things together in his mind too fast for her to follow. She didn't know what conclusions he was reaching, but there was something going on that she didn't understand. He was too quick to accept her as an imposter, too quick to assume that his "Cassandra" was now beyond his reach... almost as though he had expected it, somehow.

"I don't know," she admitted carefully, trying to watch him and get comfortable on the edge of the bed at the same time. She winced when a stabbing pain flared in her gut and then vanished, making her gasp. She didn't miss his abortive gesture toward her, as though he couldn't help himself. "You--you know about Justin's experiments?"

He frowned a little, reminding her that his "Justin" went by another name. "Justin is a friend of JT's, as I recall. From..." His eyes widened slightly, and he trailed off.

"Another dimension," she finished. "JT calls it 'transition', right? Moving someone almost instantly from one place to another by way of another dimension..." Linnse had told her what she knew of it before insisting that Cassie try to sleep. "It's better than teleporting, because it has unlimited range. But--"

"But the technology has not successfully completed a single trial," he interrupted. "There have always been problems with interference from the other dimension."

Cassie tried to smile. "Well, speaking as someone from that 'other dimension'... yeah, we'd noticed."

He was staring at her as though he'd never seen her before. And while it was technically true, it was also disconcerting. She shifted awkwardly, adding, "JT thinks your Rangers took our places in our dimension. He said he would try to switch us back as soon as he could."

For a long, uncomfortable moment, he didn't answer. When he did, though, it was only with a question. "Is she all right?" he wanted to know. His voice was soft, and he looked away at last as though he had said something unforgiveable. "If they are now where you were before... are they in danger?"

She shook her head quickly. "No. At least, not Cassandra. The others are probably fine too, but I wasn't with them when all this happened. I don't know exactly what's going on with them."

He lifted his gaze to hers again, and the look of loss was heartbreaking. "Don't worry," she said gently, wishing she could do more to comfort him. "My Saryn will look out for her." She smiled a little. "He's a sucker for Cassie clones, I promise."

"Your Saryn?" he repeated softly. She couldn't interpret the flicker in his eyes.

"Yeah..." Her smile faded, and she sighed before she could stop herself. "He's probably putting himself through nine kinds of hell right now. And Justin, too... I wouldn't want to be him when Saryn catches up with him."

"He would--act openly on your behalf?" There was an odd note in his voice.

"What do you mean?" She couldn't figure out how to make that sentence mean anything more than the obvious, and the obvious was just that. Of course he would, so why bother asking?

He didn't answer, glancing down at her stomach again and then over at the monitor next to the patient bed. "Are you... you are with child?" She got the feeling he meant to make that a statement but couldn't quite do it.

"Two," she agreed, unable to repress a small smile of pride no matter how inexplicably he was acting. "Twins... why? What's the matter?"

"Cassandra..." His strange inscrutable eyes were focused solely on her now. "Whose children do you carry?"

"Ours." His intent look didn't waver, and she frowned. "Mine and yours... who else's? Didn't we get married in this dimension?"

He turned away abruptly, and she bit her lip. She shouldn't have said that, but it had just tumbled out. How did she know what was going on? She was going to have to watch what she said around here, at least until she figured out where everyone stood.

"Do not take offense," he said at last. His voice sounded choked, but he managed, "Do not doubt that there is nothing I wish more than for that to be true."

She stood too quickly, and reached for the bed to steady herself. He must have heard her indrawn breath for he turned to catch her arm, and she smiled in thanks. He didn't return it. His eyes glinted, dangerously bright, and she lifted her hand to his face before she thought. "Are you... crying?"

He let go of her arm but he didn't back away. "What about Jenna?" he whispered, searching her face for answers. "And TJ? How did you manage to start a life together without hurting anyone else?"

She let her hand fall, startled. "Jenna's alive?" she blurted.

He paled, and she closed her eyes in mute apology. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I have to stop just saying things like that."

"No..." She heard him draw a shaky breath. "It is better to know than to wonder what might have been. I assume Jenna is--" He stumbled over the words. "She is not..."

"I shouldn't tell you," she said softly, reminding herself as much as him. "It doesn't have anything to do with you here."

"Please." She felt his fingers on her skin, and she opened her eyes in surprise as he turned her face toward his. "Please," he repeated, quiet but no less insistent. "I must know."

She knew she shouldn't do it, but she had no choice with him looking at her like that. "Elisia was attacked," she told him reluctantly, unable to look away. "You were the only Ranger that survived. Later you... you came to warn Earth, and that was when we met. We were married a year ago last week."

"And--" He seemed to brace himself. "TJ?"

"What about him?" Cassie could see the answer in his expression. "We're together?" she said, more quietly. She didn't even need to see him nod.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, not knowing what else to tell him. "We went out a couple of times, back in high school, but just as friends. I think everyone knew I fell for you as soon as we met."

His eyes glittered with unshed tears, but his voice was tightly controlled when he warned her, "You should know, then, that here we are--somewhat at odds. I do not expect you to involve yourself in a charade you had no part in planning, but I hope you will understand that I must treat you as I have always treated Cassandra.

"Which is?" she prompted. From the tone of his voice, she had a feeling she wasn't going to like this.

"Coldly." His words said one thing, but his eyes said something else entirely. "She is not my equal, and she is certainly not my friend. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, I consider Cassandra to be the weakest of the Astro Rangers, and an unlikely choice for the uniform she wears."

She tried to step back and found herself pressed up against the bed. "Why?" she whispered, dismayed by her own reaction. It was horrible to hear him say those things, no matter how little she believed them.

"I love you with all my heart," he confessed, not taking his eyes from hers. His expression was anguished, and she knew suddenly that he didn't like what he'd said any more than she liked hearing it. "The only way to pretend otherwise is to treat you as beneath my regard."

"Oh," she said softly. "Then..." She tried not to flinch at the idea of hurting him like that in return. "Do I--?"

He nodded wordlessly. 

"But I can't do that to you," she protested. "I can't... Saryn, you're my husband!"

"I am _not_," he said harshly. "Here I am nothing to you, and you would do well to remember it. I will not subject Cassandra to scrutiny simply to spare your feelings. You are not bound by the agreement we made, but do not expect me to be the person you know."

"What agreement?" She cast back desperately, trying to remember if he had said anything definitive about "Cassandra's" feelings for him. If he ignored her in public, what were they doing making agreements in private? What _was _TJ to her? Or Jenna to him, for that matter?

He was already backing away, eyes hidden in the shadows cast by low-level lighting. She could detect no emotion in his voice as he answered, "I'm relieved that you seem to be recovering, Cassandra. I hope you are comfortable."

He was gone before she could call him back.

***

The door had the Astro Rangers' logo on it, hand-painted and unofficial as it might have been, and that had caught his attention long enough to make him curious. It sat unobtrusively off to one side, as unremarkable as the other storage closets and maintenance outlets built into the bay. But none of the others sat slightly ajar as this one did, as though it hadn't been closed properly the last time it was used.

TJ put his hand into the crack and pushed experimentally, intending just to take a peek inside before shutting the door the rest of the way. It didn't open, however, and the chime of an electronic lock surprised him. The keypad next to the door was requesting his authorization.

Since when did he need authorization to get into a supply closet?

At something of a loss, TJ held up his morpher and let the keypad scan it. It blipped immediately, and the door slid open. The room gave the impression of being larger than he had expected, but since the lights didn't come up automatically he couldn't be sure. He fumbled for a similar keypad on the other side of the wall, but found none.

"Lights?" They must have been voice activated, for the command worked. Peripheral illumination lit the entire room, casting a scene he hadn't expected into colorful relief. For a moment he just stood there, staring, until it occurred to him to call the others over.

Carlos peered over his shoulder, then moved past him into the room with an appreciative whistle. "They sure know how to hide their rec rooms around here."

"Wow," Ashley said, following him through the doorway. "We should have had one of these on _our_ Mega V base."

TJ stepped aside to let Andros and Zhane by, then, as an afterthought, closed the door behind them. "I can count the number of hours we spent in the Mega V base, outside our zords, on one hand," he pointed out. "What did we need a lounge for?"

In fact, he suspected the room was less of a lounge than it was a hiding place. He had seen the planet, at least from the air, and he had seen the way the other fighters responded to them. He was willing to bet that no matter how bad the publicity and the pressure was surrounding Rangers in their own universe, it was nothing compared to what their counterparts were facing in the midst of intergalactic war.

"_I_ need a lounge," Ashley announced, throwing herself down on one of the couches. "Especially if we're going to do that kind of patrol every day. I thought it was just guard duty--I wasn't expecting to fight!"

Andros and Zhane were silent, but he caught them exchanging significant looks. He wondered suddenly if this was more familiar to them than to any of the rest of them. He couldn't even imagine two eleven-year-olds trying to save an entire planet. Trying, and succeeding for years... Sometimes he forgot how lucky he was to live on Earth.

"I wonder how many patrol rotations there are," Carlos mused aloud. "Do they ever get a day off? How many other Rangers are there? There must be more than just us and the Eltarans, unless they have patrols that aren't led by Ranger teams."

TJ folded his arms, watching Carlos prowl the room. There was more than enough furniture for the five of them, from sofas to a pair of folding chairs set up by a small wooden table. Most of it looked secondhand, lending a distinctly comfortable feel to the room. There was even a sink tucked into the far corner, with a door beside it, and TJ wondered how they had gotten plumbing into this particular part of their zord bay.

"They must," Andros said at last, speaking for the first time. "No matter how many Ranger refugees they have, their defense can't depend on us or it's vulnerable."

"They may not have a choice," Zhane remarked, studying the opposite wall. "Our defense is autonomous, and we have the fighters and the training to keep it that way. They probably don't have either."

Andros didn't answer, but Ashley jumped in with her own questions. "What do you mean, 'Ranger refugees'? You think there are more Rangers than just us and the Eltarans? Why is the Astro team here, anyway? That doesn't make any sense to me."

Andros and Zhane looked at each other again. "We wouldn't have left KO-35 if there was anything left to defend," Andros said soberly. "And honestly, you guys wouldn't have left Earth defenseless in the middle of a war either. If we're all here, then you can bet we're not the only ones."

This time, no one said a word. The silence was conspicuous and unavoidable as the horrifying implications began to sink in. It didn't feel real, but it _was_, and the knowledge was overwhelming enough without having to live it.

TJ's communicator chimed, and he actually looked down at it in surprise before activating it. He and the other Earth Rangers weren't really in the habit of using them--they were too noticeable, and it was just as easy to pick up the phone. He had started to wear his again, though, and apparently it was set to the same frequency as the astromorphers in this dimension.

"This is TJ," he told his communicator.

"It's Jenkarta," a voice answered. "Is Carlos with you?"

"Yes," TJ said carefully, glancing over at Carlos. "Are you looking for him?"

"Not as such," Jenkarata replied. "His wife knows who you are, but she wants to talk to him anyway. Are you still in the zord bay?"

"Well... sort of," TJ managed, not sure what to think of that. His mind was torn between focusing on Carlos' "wife", and trying to figure out exactly what this person was telling him. 

"When you say she knows who we are, what do you mean? And..." He grinned ruefully, catching Carlos' shocked expression. "No offense, but who are you?"

"I'm Jenkarta," the voice repeated, as though he simply hadn't heard the first time. "The Red Eltaran Ranger. And JT told her about the transition before he told us, so she's pretty well-informed. She's on her way down to you now."

"Right," TJ said, bemused. He lowered his communicator in time to meet Carlos' annoyed gaze. "What?"

"Couldn't you have asked who 'she' is?" Carlos demanded. "Someone who thinks she's married to me is about to show up at the door! It would have been nice to have a little warning!"

TJ had to admit he had a point. But he couldn't change it now, so instead he offered, "At least you know it isn't Ashley."

"Ha ha," Ashley retorted, from her sprawl on the couch. "Very funny. Could we go back to the part where Earth is gone and we're all stuck here on Eltare? How did that happen? And who are we fighting, exactly?"

"Dark Spectre?" Though his tone made it a question, it was clear that Zhane was offering the name as obvious fact, not a random guess.

Ashley made a face at him too. "I know that," she informed him. "But we didn't run into him on patrol. So who _was_ out there? Who sent the velocifighters? Who's in charge of the Dark Fortress? Because I don't see Kerone around anywhere, and if Astronema's as powerful here as she was in our dimension..."

"We might be able to convince her to switch sides!" Andros took a seat on the arm of Ashley's couch, looking around as though Astronema might appear among them at any moment. "The Rangers here must keep track of as many major villains as they can get information on. We should be able to find out something about her from the security network--or maybe KERI can tell us, when we get back to the Megaship."

"Yeah," TJ interjected, as that comment reminded him. "Who's KERI, anyway? Isn't she the AI from the Delta Megaship? What's she doing with DECA's job?"

"Since when does DECA get days off?" Carlos put in, from the armchair he'd taken over minutes before. "Or was she just being sarcastic?"

Andros frowned, and his gaze darted back to Zhane's. "In times of siege," he said slowly, "AIs sometimes share duties. It keeps them from burning out under the constant strain. 

"Or at least," the Red Ranger added, looking a little uncertain, "that's the theory. KO-35 never had the resources to put it into practice." 

"They're computers," Carlos said, as though someone might have missed that fact. "How can they burn out? They're built to do what they do."

"And you're 'built' to stay alive," Zhane pointed out. "But when you're stressed, say by a giant war or two, it gets harder. Just because she's a computer doesn't mean she's all-powerful."

"DECA might disagree," TJ muttered. As he had hoped, the remark prompted a smile from Andros and a laugh from Ashley. Carlos didn't look convinced, but Zhane didn't seem inclined to try and persuade him further.

"So what do we do now?" Ashley asked a moment later. "I don't have anything against KERI or Eltare or anyone here, but I'd like to go home eventually."

"You're not the only one," Andros said emphatically. "I don't want to think about what KO-35 is going through with three of its Rangers missing."

"It didn't actually lose anyone," Zhane reminded him. "When we came here, they went to our dimension. The team still exists, it's just... different."

"Poor Kerone!" Ashley said suddenly. "Cassie and I were with her when we got yanked here. She must be totally confused by now."

"I hope they didn't recognize her." Carlos' words were more than a little alarming, given the level of tolerance someone from this dimension could be expected to display toward an ex-villain. That was to say, none. "I guess she's fine to defend herself, either way."

"I wonder what TJ thought when he showed up on Earth in the middle of my--our family," TJ corrected. "Bet that was kind of a shock."

"I'll be lucky not to get myself killed," Carlos predicted. It was disconcerting to hear him refer to his counterpart in the first person, but then, it had been equally awkward for TJ to call his by his own name. Regular grammar just wasn't up to this kind of thing.

"Cetaci will probably shoot me on sight for acting strangely," the Black Ranger continued. "She's just been waiting for the opportunity. And Delphinius is just as touchy lately. I wish they'd get over their issues already and leave the rest of us alone."

"At least we're all together," Ashley murmured.

"Plus we have JT," Andros added, obviously following her thoughts better than TJ. "It's not going to be easy for them to even figure out what happened."

"Justin will be able to explain," Ashley reminded him. Then she paused. "He will, won't he? He didn't have anything to do with it this time..."

"They'll have to track him down first," Carlos pointed out. "No one's going to know who I'm talking about if I start asking where 'JT' is. And that's only if I don't assume that suddenly being surrounded by aliens means I've been captured." 

Andros and Zhane were giving each other that look again. "I hadn't thought about how they'd react to the Aquitians," Zhane said. His tone was loud enough to include everyone, but he was clearly addressing Andros. "Or Kerone. Maybe it's a good thing we were alone in the zord bay."

Andros nodded thoughtfully, but TJ saw Ashley look away. It wouldn't have been so obvious if she hadn't been watching them just as closely as TJ was while Zhane spoke. He frowned, remembering how strained things had been between Andros and the others three months ago. It seemed like they should have had plenty of time to work things out, but maybe not.

"I guess we can't blame them," Carlos said grudgingly. "They don't exactly have it easy here. And we'll probably screw things up for them just as much as they will for us."

"I don't know about that," TJ countered, still trying to picture his counterpart in Sanborn. "At least everyone here knows that we're not who they think we are."

There was a knock on the door, and Carlos straightened abruptly. "Easy for you to say," he muttered, and TJ saw Ashley shoot him a sympathetic look. Zhane reached out to hit the keypad, but the door slid open before he could get to it. 

"Hi," Karen greeted them, a little awkwardly. She hesitated in the doorway, glancing around at them all before adding, "I'm Karen Vargas. Sorry to intrude, but I thought maybe you could use someone other than JT to answer questions."

TJ stared at her in surprise. Her hair was longer, pulled back into a ponytail that she had never bothered with on Earth. Her shirt bore the Astro Ranger logo, and it was darker than anything she'd been wearing lately. Otherwise, though, she was the same teammate he had left in Angel Grove not two days ago.

Carlos was already on his feet, clearly trying to cover his own shock. "I'm Carlos," he said, echoing her introduction. "I guess you knew that, but..." He grinned disarmingly. "It seems like the right thing to say."

Karen's face lit with an answering smile. "It does, doesn't it? I mean, you look like my husband, but I've never met you before in my life. It's weird."

"You're telling me," Carlos agreed ruefully. "You're a Ranger in our dimension, you know. For Earth. It's funny seeing you in black again."

"Oh, please!" She slapped her hand over her eyes and peeked out at him between her fingers. "Tell me I'm not pink!"

Carlos chuckled, and TJ found himself relaxing a little. She was just as outspoken in this dimension, it seemed. At least it would be hard to offend her, and they could probably count on her to tell them the unvarnished truth. He wondered, fleetingly, what had happened to Aura and her teammates. Was Aquitar still holding out, or were they here on Eltare too?

"You're the Yellow Ranger," Carlos was saying, motioning for Karen to take his chair. "And watch what you say: Ash is right there."

Karen gave her a horrified look, and she made such a point of not saying anything that it only made her feelings more obvious. Ashley actually giggled at her expression. "Now I know where my color stands," she said, directing the comment in Andros' direction.

He chuckled, sliding off the arm of the couch to sit beside her. "Everyone knows yellow is the best," he told her. "She's probably just jealous."

Belatedly, it occurred to TJ that Andros wasn't wearing red. He had noticed it before, but his consciousness had relegated the observation to the back of his mind. Now it brought it out into the light, holding it up for his inspection, and began speculating wildly.

Zhane shifted as Karen started to retort, catching TJ's attention with his expression. He was studiously intent on Karen, and then Carlos when he tried, laughingly, to placate her. Zhane's position seemed wrong too, leaning back against the wall by the door, but TJ couldn't put his finger on why.

"So what you're saying is that there's only one color you would have been happy with," Carlos teased, leaning against the back of the chair as Karen settled herself in it.

"Is it too much to ask you to share?" she countered, tilting her head back to look up at him. "You always were selfish. Like there isn't enough black to go around!"

"And you seem to have found most of it," Carlos remarked, picking at the sleeve of her shirt affectionately. "Nice design. Where do I get one?"

Karen laughed delightedly. "This _is_ yours! I thought you were never going to stop grumbling the first time I took it..." She trailed off, her smile fading. "I've been wearing it since you've been gone. I figured you'd be back today, so." She stopped abruptly, shrugging.

Carlos' hand settled on her shoulder protectively. "He's with people that will take care of him," he told Karen quietly. "I promise you that. He's probably safer than any of us, if it comes to that."

She reached up to squeeze his hand, giving him a distracted smile. "Thanks. That does make me feel better. Even if I'm not sure that 'safer than us' is saying much," she added wryly.

"How long have you been at war?" Ashley wanted to know. "Eltare was conquered two years ago in our dimension, but--"

"The Border was attacked years before that," Andros interrupted, looking at Karen questioningly.

"Five years since the Border fell," she answered. "KO-35, Elisia, Aron, Calyjit... They were the first, and for a while they were the last. When they all went at once, reinforcements swarmed into this part of space, and we held the new border for three years after that. We thought we'd reached a kind of stalemate, a new equilibrium. 

"It turned out that Dark Spectre was just getting new forces into position," she said with a sigh. "He attacked Earth and Eltare at the same time. His forces had encircled half the League, and the Astro Rangers had to choose. They could fight and die on Earth, or fall back to Eltare where they had a chance of making a difference."

"We ran?" Carlos sounded incredulous.

Karen gave him a sharp look. "Your death wouldn't have changed anything on Earth. At least the Eltaran systems are defensible enough that we stand a chance here."

"Who says we would have died?" Carlos demanded. Privately TJ agreed, but he had a sinking suspicion that he wasn't going to like the answer. "It's looked bad before, but we stuck it out."

"KO-35 and Elisia lost more than half their Rangers trying to defend their homes," Karen told him. "Aron's entire team is gone, and in the end, what did it get them? Last we knew, troops on Aron outnumbered civilians three to one. And KO-35 is a slave world."

There was silence for a moment, and then Ashley asked in a small voice, "What about Elisia?"

"Elisia's free by default," Karen said with a shrug. "Its entire ecosystem collapsed under the assault. No one could live there now if they tried. Anyone that survived either fled or was taken prisoner by Dark Spectre."

Ashley didn't have any answer to that. No one did.

"You said Eltare was conquered?" Karen asked, breaking the silence herself. "How are you all still here? Isn't Justin on Eltare? JT said the location was important for their transition work."

"The occupation was overthrown last fall," TJ told her, when no one else seemed inclined to answer. "After Dark Spectre was destroyed, his troops were easier to push back. Eltare is still in the process of rebuilding, but it's been free for almost a year."

"Dark Spectre was destroyed?" Karen looked wistful. "That must have been a party and a half. You guys must have had something to do with that?"

TJ caught Carlos' eye. "Us and some others," he agreed. "Three Ranger teams and an awful lot of fighters. We had inside information on Dark Spectre's battle plans."

"We can only wish," she said enviously, giving him a half-smile. "Is the League at peace, then?"

"Mostly." TJ glanced from Andros to Zhane, but neither seemed inclined to add anything. "There's been some trouble out on the Border lately, but otherwise it's pretty quiet."

"Must be nice," Karen sighed, leaning back in her chair. She was quiet for a moment, apparently contemplating the idea, but she shook off her reverie before long. "You must be horrified to find yourselves here," she added, a rueful grin touching her face as she glanced around at them.

"Maybe not horrified," Zhane objected, speaking for the first time since Karen had arrived. "Startled, definitely," he allowed diplomatically, "but not horrified."

"I'm horrified," Karen said bluntly. "Some days I wake up and I wonder how all this happened. One minute you're just this kid in high school and the next you're a refugee from a planet that doesn't exist anymore. It's depressing, but there it is."

"Did a lot of people get off of Earth before Dark Spectre invaded?" Ashley asked. She looked torn between wanting to know and not wanting to hear it.

"No," Karen said. And that was all she said, changing the subject with no attempt at subtlety. "So JT said you might be here for a while. Do you think you're up for it? We'd give you time if we could, to let you try to adjust or something, but if the Astro Rangers aren't back on patrol tomorrow we're all screwed.

"We really need you," she added, in case it wasn't clear. "There are multiple Ranger teams defending all of the Free Systems, but even so we're barely holding our own. If we lose even one person, much less an entire team, our defense will buckle."

Andros was staring at her, and TJ suspected his expression was no different. "How can you live like that?" the Red Ranger blurted out. "Even aside from the mental and physical strain, you can't fight a war without losing people."

"We do what we have to," she said simply. "And we have a lot of new Rangers lately. We try to spread them out--experienced with not--but when that's impossible we have to trust the Power to protect them. 

"At this point," she added, when Andros didn't answer, "anyone who takes a morpher knows their odds are no better or worse than anyone else's."

"That could be a problem," Zhane said suddenly. "The morphers, I mean. We're not all Astro Rangers anymore. What happens when we try to morph?"

"What do you mean, you're not Astro Rangers?" Karen looked startled. "I thought JT said--"

She broke off as she saw Andros reaching into the pocket of his tunic. He pulled out a crimson digimorpher, which surprised TJ more than Karen. She just frowned, giving him an odd look. "You and Zhane have the same morpher?"

He nodded to Ashley, who held up a gold digimorpher. "We all do," she said, looking from Andros to TJ and Carlos before glancing back at Karen. "The whole Kerovan team, anyway. TJ and Carlos are still Astro Rangers, but they defend Earth now."

"The Kerovan team?" Karen repeated. "How did you--never mind," she said quickly. "Maybe you should try morphing before I jump to any more conclusions."

Andros and Ashley exchanged glances, and out of the corner of his eye TJ saw Zhane fold his arms. He clearly had no intention of taking her suggestion, but that didn't stop his teammates. They morphed simultaneously, flashes of crimson and gold overwhelming them momentarily.

As the light faded, TJ thought he saw their new uniforms flicker briefly, a diagonal chest stripe offset by something that looked like a pawprint. As quickly as that they were gone, replaced by the Astro Ranger uniforms that he and Karen had been wearing for months now, and he raised an eyebrow. Did that mean that he would morph as the Blue Ranger again?

"I guess that answers that question," Karen said, frowning a little. "You take the Power that exists for you in this dimension, not the one that chose you in yours. JT would probably love that."

Andros' uniform vanished, followed by Ashley's a moment later. The Red Ranger was looking at Zhane, though he averted his gaze as soon as TJ noticed. Zhane was staring off into the distance again, apparently oblivious, but his posture gave the lie to his expression. If he were anyone else, TJ would have said he was sulking... but he had never known Zhane to sulk.

"I guess we didn't need to be so careful when we went out on patrol," Ashley said, ignoring both of them. "JT told us to morph, but we didn't dare. It's good to know we can, even if it's not quite what we're used to."

"You went on patrol without being morphed?" Karen looked impressed. "That must have been rough. Were you covering for the Eltarans?" At Ashley's nod, she continued, "I thought so. JT kidnapped them all right after he talked to me, so at least you won't have to worry about them finding out. I wonder if he's going to tell the others, too."

"What others?" Carlos asked, raising an eyebrow. "How many Rangers do you have here, anyway?"

"Nineteen," she replied immediately. "You guys, plus JT, the Eltarans, five from Calijyt, and two more from Elisia. Other teams are organized throughout the Free Systems, but you guys are the most experienced in this part of space, so you're based here on Eltare."

TJ felt a chill at the thought that so many Rangers were only barely holding League territory against Dark Spectre. Was there still hope, or were they fighting a losing battle? Would they be able to see it objectively either way?

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Andros inquired. "Keeping us a secret, I mean. What's the point? It's not like we'd fool anyone who looked at us twice anyway."

"We'll probably have to tell the others here on Eltare," Karen admitted. "You spend enough time with them that you're right, there's no way you could keep it from them. But I don't think it's smart to announce to the rest of the world that we've misplaced six of our Rangers. It's demoralizing, for one thing, and it's a weakness that Dark Spectre could exploit."

"I guess that makes sense," Ashley said, looking a little apprehensive. "But... we're going to need more than a crash course just to find our way around, let alone make it look natural."

"Yeah." Karen looked thoughtful. "You're right, but I don't think it's impossible. With any luck, JT will work his usual magic and you'll get yourselves switched back quickly. Until then, though, I really think you should keep this quiet."

She was waiting for their agreement, TJ realized suddenly. "You're probably right," he offered, glancing around at the others. "You know how things work around here a lot better than we do."

Andros nodded slowly. "I agree."

"So do I," Ashley said, sighing. "It's the least we can do."

"Whatever you say," Carlos put in with a shrug. TJ couldn't tell if he meant Karen, or the group as a whole.

Karen glanced over at Zhane, and the rest of them followed her gaze. He shrugged, but it looked more forced on him than it had on Carlos. "Sure," he said at last. His reluctance was obvious.

"I'll give you a tour of the building, if you want," Karen offered. "We can get you extra communicators in Co-Op, and we'll stop by the medical bay to check on Cassandra." She paused, then asked straight out, "How pregnant is she? JT said she was expecting, but he didn't say how noticeable it was."

"It's noticeable," Ashley said fervently. "Very noticeable."

TJ shook his head, catching Carlos' eye briefly. The Black Ranger frowned too, and that was all the confirmation he needed. "It's not that bad," TJ corrected. "It depends on what she wears, really. She can cover it up pretty well."

Ashley didn't look convinced, but Karen nodded. "Okay. Hopefully Linnse will clear her to leave by the time we get there, and you can take her home. There are spare IDs in the drawer by the sink... Carlos, can you get those? Your communicators will get you around this building, but outside you'll need transit passes and apartment keys."

"Spare IDs?" Zhane echoed skeptically. "That sounds dangerous."

Karen raised an eyebrow. "It's more dangerous to go without while you wait for a reissue, I can tell you that. And I'm sure you can imagine how often Ranger IDs get destroyed. Besides," she said with a grin, "it's pretty hard to impersonate a Ranger, stolen ID or not."

Carlos was staring at one of the plastic chits he had retrieved from the drawer in question. "Hey," he exclaimed. "I didn't cut my hair!"

Karen laughed. "It looks nice short, too," she said, in a tone of voice that said it didn't really. He gave her a look, and she giggled again. "Well, I tried. It'll grow out; don't worry."

"I like it short!" He passed Ashley her ID after only a brief inspection. "Maybe you should cut your hair too, Ash."

She made a face at him, but she squinted at her picture obediently. "I can't tell," she admitted after a minute. "Karen?"

"Your hair is longer than hers," Karen agreed. "And a little lighter. If you put it up, though, I bet no one would notice."

"Andros," Carlos added, offering Andros his ID without a second glance. "You're boring," he informed the Red Ranger. "And Zhane, here's yours."

"He's consistent," Ashley corrected, still studying her card.

"Same thing," Carlos said, rolling his eyes. "TJ?"

The plastic card that Carlos handed him had a holographic inset in the upper left corner, and TJ studied it as carefully as the others had. It was his own face--a little grimmer, maybe, but no less recognizable for that. The inset had a blue border, which he assumed corresponded to his Ranger color, and the rest of the card was covered with code he didn't understand.

"What does the rest of this stuff mean?" Carlos wanted to know, dangling his ID in Karen's face. "You don't want yours, right? Want me to leave it in the drawer?"

"Yeah, thanks," Karen said absently. She was digging through her own pockets, and a moment later she came out with an identical plastic card. Carlos had kept Cassie's, and he returned Karen's backup to the drawer. 

Interesting that she seemed to be the only one outside of the team that had a Ranger ID, TJ noted. He wondered if that was significant. How many people *had* been evacuated from Earth, anyway?

"Your name and your clearance level are under your hologram," Karen was saying. "Level one is as high as it goes. You're all level one," she added, looking up to point to the inscription on Carlos' ID.

"Most of the stuff on the right is medical information, race stuff and vitals standards," she continued. "It's as much for identification as it is for your health, but it comes in handy more often than I expected. The name on the bottom right is the Eltaran equivalent of next of kin, with their contact number underneath it."

TJ raised an eyebrow but said nothing. The name in the bottom right corner of his card was "Cassandra Chan".

"You mentioned apartment keys," Carlos said. "Where do we live, exactly? And how do we get there?"

"We live all over the planet." Karen was so matter-of-fact that it took a moment for that sentence to sink in. "It's better not to gather all the Rangers in one place, for obvious reasons. Andros and Zhane actually live in the city, since they've been here since the beginning. You and I live clear across the world."

"That's quite a commute," Carlos replied, straight-faced.

Karen cracked a smile, toying with her ID casually. "It's less than a second by teleportal. There isn't one in here because you wanted a refuge, but there's one upstairs, just outside of Co-Op. Ready for that tour now?"

"We'd better get Cassie first," TJ interjected. "If she's up to it, she's going to need to see this too."

"Right," Karen agreed, getting to her feet. "We'll hit the medical bay first, then."

Carlos shook his head, gesturing gallantly toward the door. "After you."

***

It wasn't his brightest idea ever. He knew that. Lurking about the corridors of a Ranger-controlled building was bad enough without deliberately doing it in the presence of others. Not only was it unproductive, it was more than vaguely suspicious if he happened to get caught. 

What it came down to was the fact that he didn't really care. Or rather, he did care, but not enough to stop. Saryn had been aware for several months now that his behavior was becoming dangerously obsessive, but a convenient side effect of obsession was that it overwhelmed all rational concerns.

She emerged from the medical bay on TJ's arm, and the old familiar helplessness washed over him. Just looking at her was frustrating, unnerving, and most of all... indefinable. She was, quite literally, the most beautiful person he'd ever seen. But what did her appearance have to do with anything? He had appreciated beauty before without being plagued by this inexplicable--yearning.

That was the only word for it, truly. He yearned for her. He yearned to be in her presence as he had never longed for anything before. Yet he could put no name to the feelings that overwhelmed him when he actually found himself there. Some of the friction between them was real, after all--it was embarrassing to be so incapacitated by another, and his inability to overcome it frustrated him no end.

She was saying something to one of her teammates, and he crept a little closer in an effort to overhear. She wore a blue jacket several sizes too large for her, clearly on loan from the man she was leaning on. The jacket disguised her form so thoroughly that she might have been the same person JT had tried to bring through transition this morning, and Saryn was suspicious enough to wonder if that had been the intent.

"We'll go to Co-Op next." Karen's words drifted down the corridor toward him, barely audible over the distance and half-obscured by the hum of the ventilation systems. "You'll probably be there more than anywhere except your zords, so you'd better know how to find it without asking."

"Tell me again how you expect us to fool anyone?" Cassandra asked, confirming his suspicion about her jacket. "We're complete strangers here. We don't even know who we are, let alone anyone else."

The answer was lost as Karen turned away, leading them down the corridor in the opposite direction. He followed silently, his movement minimal and unobtrusive as he kept her always in his sight. He knew, intellectually, that this was not *his* Cassandra, but his heart could not resist the siren call of possibility that she represented.

The Silver Ranger glanced back once, but Saryn made it as far as the lift without running into serious trouble. He watched them disappear through the doors one by one, the others waiting solicitously for Cassandra and TJ to precede them before boarding. Hidden by stillness and shadow, he had every intention of remaining so until the doors closed behind them.

A voice at his shoulder came very close to making him break that resolution, but he managed not to flinch at Linnse's whispered inquiry. "How's the nightly stalking?"

He didn't answer until the lift doors were firmly shut. "Someone has to keep an eye on them," he replied, not moving. "All we know about their background and intentions is what they have told us themselves."

"Since when is the word of a Ranger not good enough?" Linnse countered, bracing her arm against the wall beside him as she continued to peer over his shoulder. "Or do you not believe her when she says they're yours?"

He did tense at that, fist clenching involuntarily. "Keep yourself out of my affairs, Linnse."

"I would, if you'd stop having them in the medical bay," she retorted. Then she seemed to reconsider. "Well, maybe I wouldn't. But at least it would be harder to keep up."

He walked away without another word.

"You're going to blow it, you know."

Saryn stopped abruptly. Closing his eyes, he drew in a deep breath and let it out, very slowly. "What do you want, Linnse?"

"In the other dimension, I mean." She ignored the question as she had ignored all his carefully worded explanations in the past. He was good at making the untenable sound plausible, but Linnse refused to listen. "Her Saryn is going to give it away."

He turned his head, not quite looking at her. "She said she wasn't with the others. Cassandra can deal with it before anyone else gets involved."

He could see her shrug out of the corner of his eye. "If that's what you want to believe. Just don't expect them to come back not knowing."

"They're different people there," he said, wondering why he let her draw him into these arguments. Maybe he just needed *someone* to talk to, as dangerous as it was. "No one will suspect us."

"Different circumstances," Linnse corrected. "The same people. And if you're counting on your little hating game to protect you, let me give you some advice: take your trysts somewhere else. There are too many eyes in this building."

This time when he walked away she let him go.

_fin_


	18. Unresolved

__

Disclaimer: "Oh... oh, I forgot! The Rangers need us!" Shayla cracks me up. Is that relevant to this story? Maybe I should have said, "Did something happen between you two?" "No. He's just immature and selfish. And I don't like him. And I'm never playing with him again!" SOTPR, but no one flounces like Shayla.

****

Unresolved  
by Starhawk

"Well," Zhane said, throwing himself down on the couch in their apartment. "This is pretty awkward, isn't it."

Ashley managed a weak smile, but she didn't answer. She'd barely said a word since Karen had triggered the teleportal that brought them here. He didn't know whether her silence was due more to them sharing quarters, or to Carlos' reaction to their situation.

"Did Carlos bother you?" he tried again, studying her expression more carefully. It was hard to deal with someone else's skepticism when they didn't even know where they stood themselves.

She shook her head mutely.

"I think I've figured out the patrol schedule," Andros announced, wandering out of the bedroom. He was frowning down at a datapad, paying no attention to Ashley's distress or the pointed looks Zhane was giving him.

"There are five rotations," he continued, pausing in front of the couch. "Zhane, it looks like you and I patrol separately from the rest of the Astro Rangers. The Elisians have their own patrol, too, and I think they've been splitting the Eltaran and Calijyt teams to cover for us while we were gone."

"We haven't been gone," Zhane interrupted, glancing sideways at Ashley. "They're not us, Andros. We're just filling in for them for a while."

Andros finally looked up, his frown vanishing as he caught Zhane's eye. "Right," he agreed, a little too quickly. "That's what I meant."

Ashley got up and left the room without a word.

Zhane glared at his friend, and Andros' eyes widened. "What?" he whispered indignantly. "What did I do?"

"Tell me this isn't weird," Zhane whispered back. "I don't know what to say to _you_, let alone to her!"

Andros just stared at him, and for a moment Zhane wondered if his friend could actually be that oblivious. Andros had always had a one-track mind... maybe he really was thinking about patrol schedules. Maybe the fact that he was sharing an apartment with both his ex-girlfriend and his would-be boyfriend really didn't bother him.

"It is hard," Andros admitted at last. The only sign that he was uncomfortable came when he looked away, frowning down at the floor. "I wish I could make it better, because I feel like... well, I'm the one that screwed it up. But I don't know how."

"You don't have to whisper," Ashley put in quietly. She was standing in the doorway with a glass of water in her hand, watching them. "I really don't mind."

Zhane sighed. That was all they needed: someone else being noble and repressed. "I mind," he said bluntly. "I hate this whole situation. I hate not knowing who's upset, or why, and I hate not being able to tell people when I'm upset because I'm afraid of making it worse. And I really hate having to tiptoe around everything and pretend there's nothing wrong in front of the others!"

There was a brief silence, and to his surprise it was Ashley who broke it. With a tentative smile, she offered, "Carlos was pretty obnoxious, wasn't he."

"He thought he was protecting you," Andros muttered. "He didn't know you already knew about me and Zhane in this dimension."

"No thanks to you," she shot back. "After everything you did to keep me from noticing!"

Zhane glanced from her to Andros uncertainly. If she thought they had been keeping something from her then that was his fault, not Andros'. He had hidden his feelings as best he could, it was true, but Andros had been oblivious.

"I didn't..." Andros stopped, his gaze flicking toward Zhane.

"He didn't know," Zhane said, coming to his rescue. The words hurt, and more than he had expected, but he couldn't let Andros take the blame for something that wasn't his fault. "Andros didn't know how I felt until yesterday. He wasn't covering anything up."

"No--" Andros choked. He swallowed hard, shaking his head as Zhane looked at him in surprise. "She means in the other dimension. Here--when we were here before, you told me we were together, and I tried to keep Ash from finding out."

Zhane frowned, trying to sort that out. Ashley clearly knew what he meant, and she was staring at Andros expectantly. The Red Ranger kept his gaze on the floor, but if he couldn't sense her regard he must still have known what she was asking.

__

Why?

"I don't know why," Andros confessed, as though one of them had said the word aloud. "I guess... I didn't want anything to change."

"I would have believed you," Ashley said softly. Zhane felt as though he should be following this conversation but couldn't quite get a handle on it. "If you had said you didn't love him, I would have believed it, and nothing would have changed."

"But it would have been a lie!" Andros burst out. He looked up at her, then glanced away immediately. "I do love him! That's why I didn't want you to ask--I knew I'd lose you."

For several long moments, no one said anything. Finally, Ashley sighed. "That's my decision, though, isn't it?" she reminded him. "Didn't I at least deserve to know?"

"He told you about his vision," Zhane pointed out, unable to stay silent any longer. "He talked to you before me, you know. He never wanted you to get hurt."

"Zhane," Ashley began, but Andros overrode her.

"Stop defending me!" he cried. "I don't deserve that, Zhane! I've hurt you more than anyone and you act like nothing's changed!"

Taken aback, Zhane glanced at Ashley. She looked almost as surprised as he felt, but she didn't say anything. If she had been about to tell him to stay out of their argument, she must have changed her mind. 

"I'll defend whoever I want," he said, as much for her benefit as Andros'. "Ash is right when she says it's her decision to stay with you or not, and as long as you say 'I love you' and mean it, I have the same choice. Sorry, but you don't get to decide whether you deserve us or not."

Andros gaped at him for a moment, and Zhane managed a rueful smile. It was getting easier and easier to speak sharply to Andros. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"You..." Ashley distracted him before Andros could answer. "Do you really mean that? That it's my decision--" She swallowed involuntarily and didn't bother to finish.

"Whether to stay with Andros?" he guessed.

She nodded wordlessly.

"Yeah," he said with a shrug. "I'd have tried to talk you out of breaking up if I could have, but it's not like I can tie you together or something."

"Why?" Ashley demanded, staring at him. "Don't you want me to leave?"

"No!" he exclaimed without thinking. "You're practically my closest friend!"

The look she gave him made him pause. She would see right through anything he told her, because she was in the same position he was. They were both desperately in love with a former boyfriend too dense to know it half the time.

"Maybe at first," he admitted with a sigh. "Before I knew you I might have resented you a little. Can you blame me? You took my best friend away, even if you didn't know it then."

"Now I know," she pointed out evenly. The words were neutral, even impassive, but her eyes were uncertain. She didn't want to fight anymore than he did.

"And now I know you didn't do it on purpose," he answered. "You wouldn't have kissed him that day if you'd known. But I'm glad you did, because he needed you.

"Maybe that's why you're not with Andros in this dimension," Zhane realized suddenly. "Because we were still together when you met us."

"Lucky," Ashley murmured. Her smile was pained.

"No," Zhane said forcefully. He hadn't known he believed that until this moment, but maybe now he could make her see it too. "It's not lucky. It's too bad, because you and Andros are so in love that you've overcome everything else, even death, to be with each other."

"So have you," she said wistfully.

"So?" Zhane countered. "That doesn't change anything. It's not like I just started loving him. Andros said I'm acting like nothing's changed, and I am because it _hasn't_. I've loved Andros all along, and you can't change that anymore than I could change your feelings two years ago.

"He isn't lucky here because he never got the chance to love you the way he should. I'm sorry for the way things turned out here, for him and for you... even if I did get to keep him a little longer. If there was any way I could knock some sense into the Andros in this dimension, I'd do it in a second."

"Would you?" Ashley asked quietly. There was an odd look in her eyes. "You told Andros... When we met your counterpart from this dimension, he told Andros that he'd be jealous of me if he was in your place."

"You heard that?" Andros blurted out. "Did you hear the whole conversation? I thought you were still downstairs!"

"I am jealous," Zhane replied honestly. Ashley didn't so much as glance at Andros, and since the question hadn't been directed at him he ignored it too. "But I'm not jealous because he loves you. I'm jealous because he acts like he doesn't love me."

"Wait a minute," Andros objected. He was starting to sound distinctly uncomfortable. "Can I say something here?"

Ashley sighed. "Not unless you say it better than you've said everything else," she muttered, asperity in her tone.

Zhane shot her an amused look before he thought, and when she looked up he knew she'd caught it. Apparently he wasn't the only one exasperated by Andros' emotional ignorance. He had to admit, if only to himself, that it was nice to share a joke with her again, even at Andros' expense. Maybe especially at Andros' expense.

The Red Ranger looked from one to the other, and he didn't look quite as disgruntled as Zhane had expected. "Should I be relieved that we're all still talking?" he asked carefully. "Or worried that you're ganging up on me?"

Zhane exchanged glances with Ashley, and he knew what she was going to say before she opened her mouth. "Worried," they agreed simultaneously.

Andros cracked a smile, and Zhane found himself relaxing incrementally. They _were_ still talking, after all, and he had been more honest with the two of them in the last few minutes than he had been in the year before this. If only he could get Ashley alone for a few minutes, to tell her about the conversation with Andros earlier...

A chime from the door prevented him from implementing any such plan. After a moment's hesitation and a nervous look or two, it was Andros who crossed the room to the source of the noise. He had some trouble getting the door open, but any comment Zhane might have made was forgotten when he caught sight of their visitors.

Amanda from Kalikay's stood there, a friendly smile on her face. She looked for all the world as thought she stopped by every day. And at her side, calm as could be, was Cassie's dog Jetson.

Calm, that is, until he saw Ashley. Before anyone could say a word, the dog launched itself past Andros and landed in the room at Ashley's feet. He didn't jump up on her, as the Jetson Zhane knew would have, but he danced back and forth with little hops and an impatient whine until she reached down to pat him.

"I just got in," Amanda said, by way of greeting. "I saw your light was on, and I figured the apartment must feel pretty lonely without him."

She was smiling down at Ashley, who had dropped to her knees to hug the dog. She missed the confused looks Andros and Zhane exchanged, and she continued blithely, "Bgoua made some extra dinner tonight, if you're too tired to cook."

It took Zhane a moment to realize that she had lifted her head to gaze inquiringly at him. Him specifically, not Andros or Ashley. Since when did he make decisions about dinner, he wondered? He found himself at something of a loss: what was the right answer?

"Thanks," he said hastily, trying not to look at the others. "None of us is very good company right now, though, and I think we have some leftovers. We'll be all right."

"Leftovers, huh?" Amanda looked amused. "You _must_ be tired. I'll let you get some sleep, but let us know if you need anything, okay?"

"We will," Andros promised, giving her what was obviously intended to be a reassuring smile. "Thanks for the invitation. Maybe some other time."

"Sure," Amanda agreed, glancing down at the dog again. "Welcome home."

Ashley looked up at just that moment with the most innocent smile on her face. "It's good to be back," she said sincerely. "Thanks for bringing Ranger over."

"Oh, it was no problem," Amanda assured her. "He and Angelo get along really well. We should thank you for letting him stay with us when you're gone!"

Ashley laughed as though she knew exactly what Amanda was talking about. The red-haired singer smiled as she took a step back, wishing them a casual good night. Zhane replied automatically, but as soon as the door closed Andros turned on Ashley.

"'Ranger'?" he repeated incredulously. "How did you know what the dog's name was? Is that Jetson? And did you recognize that woman? She looked familiar, somehow."

"Dog tags," Ashley said tiredly, jingling Ranger's collar before she stood up. "I hope I wasn't too obvious about it. He looks like Jetson, but I'd have to ask Cassie to be sure. I wonder what he's doing with us instead of her.

"I don't know who that was with him," she added as an afterthought. "Maybe a neighbor?"

"She's the singer from Earth at Kalikay's," Zhane told them, surprised they didn't remember her. "She sang the night of graduation. Amanda?"

"Amanda and Bgoua," Ashley repeated, almost to herself. "I wonder how many people we should expect to have dropping by without any warning like that?"

"Not a lot, I hope," Andros said fervently. "Maybe we'd better look around some more and see what we can find here."

"Wait," Ashley said, before Zhane could agree. "First, did you say you'd figured out the patrols? I know Karen told us when to be back in the zord bay, but it would be nice to know how much time we have before then. And after. I want to sleep," she added, a little petulantly. "And maybe even eat."

"You are demanding, aren't you?" Zhane teased, falling back into the banter they'd become so used to over the summer. "What will you want next, a shower and a change of clothes?"

"Are you saying you think I need one?" Ashley retorted, a small smile on her face.

"I do," Andros put in unexpectedly. "I guess I'd better find something red to wear."

"That'll probably be hard in a Red Ranger's apartment," Zhane remarked, straight-faced.

"Not as hard as getting you to cook something edible," Andros informed him. "Amanda must not know you very well."

He grinned, inexplicably pleased to be the recipient of such heckling. It was something normal in a situation that had been horribly awkward even before they'd been transported to an alternate dimension. He could only hope that Andros' smirk and Ashley's giggle were harbingers of things to come.

***

Ghostly illumination flickered in the quiet room. Though Karen had shown him how to log in and access the Ranger network, it had taken a good deal of trial and error to get the computer to tell him what he wanted to know. It still wasn't cooperating fully, because the question burning in his mind remained unanswered.

He stood abruptly, turning away from the screen to stare into the semi-darkness. She slept on in the double bed alone, apparently untroubled by his absence. She must have had too much time to get used to it. He wondered how often her husband and his teammates were off on missions so dangerous that JT had to risk their lives to bring them back.

Carlos rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the tension in them. Sitting so long in front of the computer had taken a toll on muscles already stressed by the events of the day, but he hadn't been able to sleep. He had tried. He had lain in bed for almost an hour, staring up at the ceiling and listening to Karen breathe. The presence of someone who was almost--but not quite--her husband hadn't seemed to bother her anymore than the lack of it did now.

It didn't seem to. He knew it did, no matter how good her nonchalant façade was. He had heard her voice crack when she joked about how long she'd been wearing his shirt. He had seen the faroff look in her eyes when she showed him around "their" apartment, touching things fondly and telling him any story he asked to hear without hesitation.

She didn't ask him any questions, though. He couldn't decide whether to be relieved or worried. The moment his "wife" had shocked him into silence with a face that wasn't Aura's, he had vowed to find out what had happened to the Aquitian team. But the longer Karen went without asking about his life, the more uncomfortable he felt about bringing it up.

So he lay awake not sleeping until he couldn't stand it anymore, and he logged into the Ranger network with the code she had given him. His exhaustive search didn't hurt the computer's feelings at all. Unfortunately, it also didn't yield the information he wanted.

His eye fell on the phone he had left beside the bed. He wished he could turn it on, if only to see the Aquitian logo blinking comfortingly on the screen. But as Jenkarta had already proven, the phone link only confused his astromorpher in this dimension, making it impossible for him to use his communicator when it was turned on. Logic had to take precedent over sentiment this time.

He moved quietly over to the nightstand and picked up his wallet instead. Inside was a picture TJ's sister had taken at their graduation party, and another that Ashley had taken the same afternoon. He had chased Aura into the sprinkler, grabbing her hand when she almost tripped over the plastic wand, and she had retaliated by flinging her open water bottle in his direction. They were both drenched, laughing, and about three seconds from getting busted for trampling his mom's sage.

He stared at the picture a moment longer before snapping his wallet shut with finality. Screw logic. If he couldn't ask Karen, and he couldn't ask the computer, then there was only one place left to go.

She was right when she said it was less than a second by teleportal. He had the presence of mind to change first, putting on his own clothes before stepping through the door that took him instantly back to the Ranger building. The place was crawling with people, and even Co-Op wasn't immune to the press of frantic activity.

"JT." He managed to locate Justin's doppelganger without too much trouble, probably because much of the chaos seemed to revolve around him. "I need your help."

"Shoot," JT replied. The screens in front of him ranged from flight control monitors to countdown readouts and status indicators that Carlos could make little or no sense of. But JT's gaze tracked from one to the other as he read them like a book, apparently giving Carlos as much attention as he was giving anyone else. 

How much attention that actually was, of course, was open to question.

"I need to get to Aquitar," Carlos told him. "I think your dimensional transference thing can send me."

"What part of 'war' don't you understand, Carlos?" JT didn't so much as glance up from his control panels. "This isn't a vacation. This isn't a training sim. This is life and death, every minute of every day. You don't get time off."

He didn't know what he was going to do until he had already done it. JT's back was pressed up against the monitors he had been scrutinizing, eyes wide, and Carlos' fist was full of his shirt. The room was so busy that there was a noticeable lag between action and reaction.

"I don't want time off," the Black Ranger enunciated carefully. "I want to go into hell and get someone out. One person. Is that so much to ask?"

Then people were pulling him off of JT, a woman with green slitted eyes and a man he recognized as one of the Eltaran Rangers. Their concerned looks were first for JT, who waved them away distractedly, and then for him. He ignored them, waiting for JT's response.

"This is a really stupid idea," JT said at last, turning back to the consoles. "I'm not saying I won't do it," he added, forestalling Carlos before he could say anything, "but I think it's a really stupid idea."

"Thanks for the opinion," Carlos muttered. "It means a lot to me."

"I can see that." Without turning, JT held out his hand. "Give me your morpher."

Carlos handed it over, watching as JT set it on the console and started reprogramming it through an unfamiliar interface. How long he worked on it was open to question, since several times he seemed to be doing something else entirely, but Carlos didn't dare stop him at this point. So he didn't know what was going on. That was nothing new, and it didn't really matter at this point. He knew what he wanted. That would have to be enough.

"It's set to automatically piggyback on any signal booster they still have," JT said at last, handing the morpher back. He still didn't look up from his control panels. "That means don't use it unless it's an 'I'm about to die' emergency, because anyone will be able to overhear everything you transmit. On the plus side, it also means that if Aquitar has any comm satellites left at all, you'll be able to get a message to us when you need to.

"Don't do it unless you need to," JT reiterated, looking up at last. His eyes were impassive. "We'll assume that any contact is an extraction request. No matter what you say, coded, coerced, or otherwise, we'll bring you back the instant we receive your signal."

"So you can transfer me," Carlos said, searching his expression for confirmation and finding none. He had told himself he wouldn't question, but he found he couldn't help it.

"Now you ask." JT gave him a discomfiting smirk. "I don't know. But it was nice of you to volunteer as a test subject." 

Then, before Carlos could protest, the Blue Turbo Ranger lashed out faster than the eye could follow and he found himself flat on his back on the floor. "Don't ever threaten me again," JT warned him. He turned back to the console and entire room disappeared.

There was a grey oblivion sharp as an electric shock, a muddy view of the Aquitian control room, and a twisting agony so all-consuming that he knew he was in pain before he could feel it. Grey nothingness again, and then Aura's face in the dimness. He couldn't scream, couldn't breathe, couldn't even comprehend; he could only endure until the nightmare crystallized into something his mind could wrap itself around.

Acrid smoke rushed into his starving lungs like so many splinters, forcing him to cough most of it back out even as his body demanded more. His eyes watered under the assault and his skin seemed to be on fire, echoing with phantom pain even as the tearing transference came to an end. For a moment, the only thing he recognized was the fact that it was over.

The bulkhead beside him exploded outward and survival once more took precedence in his mind. He half-rolled, half-scrambled out of the way, peripherally aware of a body on the floor where he had just been, and his astroblaster was in his hand as he swung around to face the point of impact. He thanked Karen silently for insisting that they carry their weapons at all times, uniform or no.

Fresh smoke billowed through the new opening in the wall, and nothing he could do made his vision any clearer. He could hear the wet slipping sounds that still haunted his nightmares, and even after all this time the sound of pirahnatron sent a thrill of fear up his spine. He fired blindly, praying the reflex hurt no one but the bad guys.

Splashing sounds told him he was hitting targets, and that they were the right ones. The hole in the wall made an improvised holding point, a place to cut off his unseen enemy without being surrounded in the smoke. He hoped it didn't also mark his only escape route, because even the sound of retreat wasn't enough to convince him to step through that wall without a whole lot more information.

Carlos backed up slowly, letting his fire taper off as the pirahnatron ceased to respond. He kept his blaster ready in one hand as he knelt beside the prone form that had come flying through the bulkhead, glancing down only long enough to identify it as Aquitian and find a place to check for a pulse. The heartbeat was strong beneath his fingers, but between the smoke and the way his eyes were swelling shut, he couldn't see well enough to determine whether it was someone he knew.

Then a hand clamped down on his wrist, and he jerked back with a curse. It did no good, for whoever the fallen soldier was had a grip as strong as Aura's. He stopped resisting, peering into the smoke in the direction of the blown-out bulkhead, wondering how much time they had before reinforcements swarmed through that hole.

"Who are you?" a voice from the floor rasped. The harsh grating of much abused vocal cords turned the normally lyric Aquitian language into a painful hiss. 

"A Ranger," he answered in kind, choking as his throat closed involuntarily. His own voice wasn't in much better shape. "From--Eltare." He remembered just in time not to say "Earth".

And there were the reinforcements. It certainly didn't take them long. The figure beside him rose through the smoke and took his arm with her into the dimness. Given the circumstances, he didn't argue, but he couldn't help a chill when he realized he was thinking of her as female. Could his subconscious know something he didn't?

He shoved her out of the way as a roar tore through the space between them, acting more on instinct than any quantifiable sense. His shoulder banged into a wall and his return shot went wild, but he could hear a stunner taking up the slack from somewhere nearby. How she had managed to hold onto her weapon after getting thrown through a wall he had no idea.

"This way!" The damaged voice now held a note of command that he recognized, and he stumbled toward the sound without question. The odds against this encounter were phenomenal.

Their pursuers were almost on top of them by the time their running space dead-ended, but he didn't have time to panic. He also didn't have adrenaline to spare. Such concerns were pushed aside as two more stunners opened up, one on either side of him and his fellow Ranger, and a hand yanked him through the wall.

A familiar voice shouted, "Go!" His heart constricted at the sound, and then the ground lurched and he was thrown into something hard and sharp. He didn't bother to get up, partly because he suspected they were in some kind of transport vehicle and partly because he couldn't breathe well enough to move. 

There was the sound of a stunner arming, and he had a sinking sensation that it was pointed at him. That impression was confirmed a moment later when the same voice that had yelled for them to go inquired, "Shall I shoot this one, or do you want it for something?"

"Not--" The raw voice that answered somehow maintained an air of authority even when it gave out completely. "Not an agent," she gasped, from somewhere in front of him. "A Ranger."

The whole interior of the vehicle was blurred by his battered vision, but he thought he saw movement off to one side at those words. "You're sure?" the second voice asked skeptically. Someone's face was in his, and he inhaled sharply at the scent that reached him even through the smoke and fear.

It was Aura that stood beside him, debating his continued existence with the leader he had just rescued. He flinched as fingers wrapped around his wrist roughly enough to bruise, but he didn't protest. He knew she was inspecting his morpher, and he knew too that no matter what Cetaci said she would kill him in an instant if she thought it was fake.

The vehicle lurched again, but this time his position on the floor kept him from getting the wind knocked out of him. It also dislodged Aura's grip, for which he was grateful. She didn't use that strength on him very often, and it wasn't so much that it was disconcerting as it was just plain painful.

"Are you all right?" Aura wanted to know. As the haze slowly melted from his vision, he could see that she hadn't turned her back on him as she moved to Cetaci's side. He didn't want to know what kind of lives they led that they didn't even trust Rangers anymore.

"I got it," Cetaci coughed, pulling something from her vest. She let Aura take it before gesturing in his direction. "Thanks to him. He covered me when the 'tron caught up just--" She choked again, then wheezed, "Just outside the rendezvous point."

"Stop talking," a third voice ordered, tight with fatigue and strain. "If you can't breathe, say so and shut up. I won't listen to you suffocate yourself."

Maybe it was a trick of his still-clearing vision, but Carlos thought he saw a small smile on the White Ranger's face. The next thing he knew Delphinius was taking Aura's place at her side, sliding an arm around Cetaci and cradling her head against his chest unashamedly. He whispered something Carlos couldn't make out, and Cetaci closed her eyes.

"We should abandon the pod," Delphinius added, in a more normal tone of voice. "How far can you walk?"

"As far as I have to," Cetaci mumbled, not lifting her head from his chest. "Do it."

He touched her face once more before gently extracting himself from their embrace. Cetaci leaned back against the console bank again, eyes closed as her head rested on the edge of the control panel. Delphinius got back to work at the pilot's console, and suddenly Carlos found himself the center of Aura's attention once more.

"We must walk from here," she told him, and her careful English sounded foreign to his ears. It occurred to him belatedly that she had no reason to think he could understand their language, and he wondered if he should tell her. 

Cetaci knew--he had answered without thinking when she asked who he was. But she wasn't saying anything now, and Aura didn't seem in a mood to be upstaged. So he just nodded wordlessly and waited to see if she would elaborate. It wasn't as though he had any choice in where they went.

She didn't explain after all, and he supposed he should have expected that. He had thought he would be relieved to find her alive, no matter what condition she was in. Somehow he had thought...

Well, maybe that was the problem. He hadn't thought. He had just acted, and damn the consequences. Here he was, and here she was, and she seemed as likely to kill him as hear him out--even if he could figure out what to tell her.

"It will head for the surface as soon as we're clear," Delphinius was saying, as he helped Cetaci to her feet with a tenderness she only accepted when she was too worn to protest. "The self-destruct will activate on first contact with the enemy. You have the disc?"

Cetaci nodded tiredly to Aura, and Delphinius frowned. "For as long as you draw breath we will not leave you," he informed her. "There is no reason to pass it on."

"You will not leave me," she whispered, barely loud enough to be heard. It seemed to be all she could manage without hurting her voice further. "Aura will, because she knows what is at stake. That is why she carries it."

"We're wasting time," Aura reminded them. "The sooner we are away, the fainter the trail they will have to follow."

Delphinius' expression was dark, but he helped Cetaci out of the pod without another word. Aura waited for Carlos, but since she still hadn't holstered her stunner he harbored no illusions about her intentions. He supposed he should be grateful that he wasn't being escorted at gunpoint.

The pod was nestled inside some sort of subterranean cavern, and it further occurred to him to be thankful that he hadn't been expected to disembark in the water. His breather was back in Karen's apartment on Eltare. It was a testament to his state of mind at the time that he had put his wallet in his pocket but left the breather in a drawer with his ID.

The pod's autopilot took over the moment the hatch closed. Aura watched until it cleared the first overhang, but Delphinius and Cetaci didn't bother. Carlos followed them deeper into the slowly darkening cave, and a moment later he heard Aura's rapid steps catching up with them from behind. She paced him in the dimness, and he had the sense that it galled her to walk with him instead of her teammates. But he was equally sure that she wasn't about to turn her back on him, so it was really her only option.

The light was gone in minutes. Just as he opened his mouth to say something about the impenetrable darkness, Delphinius produced a miniature light from somewhere and illuminated a narrow path in front of them. Most of it was blocked from reaching Carlos and Aura, but it was better than nothing.

Carlos had no way to gauge how long they walked, and no one volunteered any information. No one volunteered anything at all. They walked in a silence broken only by Cetaci's frequent coughs. The route they followed didn't seem to be marked in any way, though several times the path shrank small enough that Carlos had to squeeze sideways to fit through a gap. 

Delphinius never showed any uncertainty, though he did pause for Cetaci's sake more than once. Her coughing grew steadily worse, and Carlos' throat began to ache in sympathy. He could hear Delphinius murmuring encouragement to her, and not once but twice did he see the glow of rehydration pass between them. He tried not to think about the last time he had seen Aquitians lend strength that way, but it was hard to keep his mind occupied with nothing else to focus on but interminable darkness.

At first he thought that the odd double shadows in front of them were his imagination. Just as the thought crossed his mind, however, Delphinius turned off his light and swung Cetaci into his arms as though it was no great effort. The shadows remained. As attuned to Aura as he was, Carlos felt her relax the tiniest bit, and he wondered what destination they had reached.

The source of the light turned out to be a single lantern, casting shadows down the incline on which is was perched. Delphinius started up the slope without hesitation, and a figure detached itself from the shadows at the top and met them halfway down. It was with a start that Carlos recognized Tideus.

The former Ranger's gaze flicked over him briefly, measuringly, and then he turned back to Delphinius. "I brought supplies enough for an overnight stay, but no longer. Will she require treatment?"

"No." Delphinius rejected Tideus' silent offer of help, continuing up the incline unaided. "She lets me carry her like this all the time. Of course she needs treatment; she was knocked through a wall!"

Carlos blinked, wondering how much of the silence on the way in had been telepathic conversation. He had gotten so used to sharing in such discussions that it hadn't occurred to him that he was being excluded. He shot a sideways glance at Aura and found her scanning the cavern as though expecting an ambush. Apparently even Tideus' presence wasn't enough to reassure her. 

"I'm all right," Cetaci murmured, clutching Delphinius' shoulders as he set her down in the rough circle of lantern light near the top of the slanted cavern. "A night's rest will be enough."

"Who's your companion?" Tideus asked bluntly, keeping his eyes on Cetaci. The lack of acknowledgement seemed to be deliberate, as though Tideus didn't want Carlos to know they were talking about him. "If you brought a wall down, he looks as though he was underneath it."

"He was," Delphinius answered for her. He didn't look in Carlos' direction either. "She says she found him holding off the 'tron singlehandedly when she came to. He checked her vitals, told her he was a Ranger from Eltare, and covered their retreat as soon as she could move again."

"He's not Eltaran." How Tideus could tell, he had no idea. "But I understand a lot of the neighboring teams fell back to the Free Systems when Dark Spectre's last sweep came through. He looks human, at least."

"What is your name?" Delphinius asked suddenly, pinning Carlos with an intent look as he switched to English. "What is your purpose here?"

They didn't waste any words, he reflected wryly. He'd give them that.

"I'm Carlos," he answered, wondering whether to tell them that he understood what they were saying perfectly well. "I was a Ranger for Earth... at least, I was until Dark Spectre drove us out," he added awkwardly. It was hard to say that to Rangers that obviously refused to be driven, but he didn't know what else to tell them.

"And you operate out of Eltare now?" Delphinius surmised.

Before he could so much as nod, Aura cut him off. "What business does Eltare have with us?" she demanded, surprising him with the venom in her voice. "They've never cared before. Why start now?"

His hesitation was obvious, and he knew it wasn't winning him any supporters. He sighed, not at all certain he was quick enough to get something past people this suspicious. Especially when he didn't know that much of the story himself.

"It's kind of a long story," he hedged, trying to gauge their reactions. Not good. 

"Tell us," Aura invited, and not in a pleasant way. There was a decidedly dangerous edge to her voice. He definitely wouldn't be able to make it sound plausible with that glare turned on him the whole time. 

"Look, I'm from another dimension," Carlos blurted out. "One of the Rangers on Eltare was doing some experiments with interdimensional travel and he accidentally switched his Rangers with ours. He says it might be a while before we can get back, and I wanted to check on you." 

This was greeted by absolute silence. They were staring at him as though he had just started tap-dancing. Even Aura had abandoned her glare in favor of a more generic look of bafflement. They didn't seem to know what to do with an explanation like that, and he didn't really want to make it worse. The fact that their hostility had been temporarily averted was enough for now.

"Is it possible that he's unbalanced?" Aura asked at last, switching to her native tongue. She shot an uncertain look at Cetaci, then on to Tideus. "Just because he has a morpher..."

"It has happened before," Tideus agreed. "Especially in times such as these. But how did he come to seek us out? What could have prompted him to incorporate us into his delusion?"

"Maybe he didn't," Delphinius offered. "Maybe he has suffered some trauma at the hands of evil, and he fixated on the first people he recognized as different."

"I'm not crazy!" Carlos broke in, torn between exasperation and anger. "You don't know how I got here because JT used his dimensional experiment to do it. I'm 'fixated' on you because in my dimension you're my friends! Who would make up a story like that, anyway?"

"A crazy person," Cetaci murmured, but she sounded more amused than anything else. The others were staring at him again. Suddenly he realized he didn't need to worry about telling them he knew Aquitian anymore.

"You understand our language?" Delphinius asked, in his own tongue.

"I've been almost living on your planet for more than a year," Carlos answered in the same language. "I hope I've picked up a few things by now."

"You could have learned Aquitian anywhere," Aura said, in English this time. "I fail to see what bearing your language skills have on the subject of your mental stability."

"Then how did I get here?" Carlos demanded. "Isn't your planet under siege? I couldn't have just flown in!"

She shrugged. "Perhaps your are an escaped prisoner. Or a slave."

"With a morpher?" Tideus countered, a note of skepticism entering his voice.

"Then are many ways onto a besieged planet," she insisted stubbornly. "It's getting off that's difficult."

Sudden inspiration made Carlos reach into his back pocket. If the sentimental study of a picture had gotten him into this, then the picture could damn well get him out. "Explain that," he said, opening his wallet and holding it out to her.

Aura frowned, clearly not certain what she was looking at. Then her expression went completely blank and he knew she had recognized herself. She took the proffered billfold slowly, bringing it close enough to study.

"What is it?" Tideus demanded, when another moment passed and she still didn't say anything. "I don't recognize that object."

"It's not the object," she said quietly, not taking her eyes off of it. "It is... the image it contains."

"Which is?" Delphinius prompted.

She passed it to him without a word. 

"I see," Delphinius said a moment later. He sounded as taken aback as she looked. "This, then, is the Aura from--your dimension."

"Yeah," Carlos agreed softly. He cleared his throat when Aura shot him an odd look, reminding himself that there was no point in telling the _whole_ truth. "That's her. We've been... uh, pretty good friends for a while now. That's a picture from a party we had a few months ago."

"It does lend credence to your story," Delphinius admitted, offering the wallet to Cetaci for inspection. "May I inquire as to the status of the League in this--other dimension?"

"Pretty peaceful," Carlos said, watching Cetaci give the picture a cursory glance. When she nodded to Tideus, Delphinius passed it on. "Nothing like this, anyway. We destroyed Dark Spectre more than a year ago, and his forces have fallen back to the Border. Things are pretty quiet right now."

"You destroyed Dark Spectre?" Cetaci whispered. Her voice was half-wistful and half-incredulous. "You say that like it's nothing..."

"Well, you almost died," Carlos admitted. "And Aura, too. But we did it. We had help from the inside; that's what made the difference."

"Help from the inside?" Aura repeated, giving him a sharp look. "Who? Or what? Is it someone we could contact?"

He hesitated, but even if he told them it wouldn't do them any good. "No," he said at last. "Andros and Zhane are the only ones that can reach her."

__

And I bet they're already trying, he added silently.

***

"Ash," a voice whispered. "Ash, wake up."

She groaned, flinging one arm over her eyes before she dared to crack them open. The light wasn't as bad as she expected, but she didn't see anything familiar. She moved her arm then, frowning at her surroundings before turning toward the source of the whisper.

"Zhane?" Her voice was slurred with sleep, but he grinned as though she'd said something particularly clever.

"You're cute in the morning," the Silver Ranger teased. "Come on; Andros is talking to Cassie."

Ashley sat up abruptly, staring around the room. They were on Eltare, in the apartment Zhane shared with Andros. They were, more specifically, in the bedroom Zhane shared with Andros... she remembered now. Her counterpart had a separate room. Being the only unattached Astro Ranger, Zhane and Andros had invited her to share their apartment. She didn't know how permanent they had intended the situation to be, but the place looked pretty settled to her.

She glanced over at Zhane, bouncing impatiently on the other side of the double bed. Andros had offered to sleep on the couch, but Zhane had suggested--rather whimsically--that Andros sleep in Ashley's room while they shared the larger bed. She had been just tired enough to agree, and Andros' expression had been priceless.

"Weird night?" Zhane suggested, seeing the look she was giving him. "We can kick Andros out of your room tonight if you want."

Ashley shook her head, not sure she could put it into words. "No..." Suddenly she realized that Zhane had just suggested putting Andros out, instead of offering to sleep on the couch himself. That was very un-Zhane like.

She smiled, deciding to take it as the peace offering it probably was. "Actually, you're a lot easier to sleep with than he is. Andros moves too much."

"No kidding," Zhane agreed, grinning back at her. "Plus he always steals the blankets."

Ashley couldn't help laughing. "He does!"

As she pushed the covers back, Zhane bounced up again. "Ready?" he demanded, waiting for her to get out of bed. "I don't want to miss the Cassie-TJ saga."

"Is there a Cassie-TJ saga?" Ashley asked, amused by the suggestion as much as his obvious impatience. It was rare that he woke before she did, but he had clearly been up for some time. "What's going on?"

"Don't know," he retorted. "Someone won't get up and find out."

She laughed again, dragging herself to her feet. "All right, all right. Let's go see what's happening."

Zhane was out of the room in an instant. She followed him more slowly, wondering how he had managed not to wake her if he had that much energy. Had he been talking to Andros? He had told her what he'd said to Andros yesterday. She hadn't known whether to be more upset that he had tried to give up Andros for her, or that Andros wouldn't let him. Now, though...

Well, to be honest, it was just too early in the morning to fall back into yesterday's drama. She was still in the state of complacent lethargy that always seemed to follow being woken too early. If only she could hold onto this kind of peace the rest of the time.

"I don't know," Cassie was saying as she emerged from the bedroom. The Pink Ranger was on the comm screen by the door, managing to look exasperated and worried at the same time. "All Karen knew was that JT sent him to Aquitar. And all JT will say is that we have until the end of the Elisians' patrol to come see him in Co-Op, and then he's going to bed."

"Who?" Ashley interrupted, frowning. "What's going on?"

"Carlos is gone," Andros said over his shoulder. "JT wants us to meet him in Co-Op."

"We don't have that much time, either," Cassie added. "According to Karen, the next patrol is usually ours, but the Eltarans are taking it because you guys took theirs yesterday. They're already gone, so Saryn and Jenna must be on their way back by now."

Ashley's eyes widened. "Jenna?" she repeated without thinking. "Jenna's here?"

"Yeah." Cassie didn't look at all happy about it. "And that's another thing: if anyone asks, the twins are TJ's. I'm sorry to ask you guys to lie, but it's kind of important. TJ says it's okay with him."

"We understand," Andros promised, while Ashley tried to suppress a dozen Jenna-related questions. "We'll meet you in Co-Op in a few minutes."

"Would someone please make a reference sheet?" Zhane complained as soon as Andros had broken the comm link. "I want a list of who's dating who, who's married, and whether or not there are any affairs going on. It would help to know how we all got here, too, and what happened to our planets. Just for purposes of conversation, you know?"

Ranger roused himself from his place by the couch long enough to give Zhane a baleful look for his raised voice, and Zhane immediately pointed at him. "I also want to know where that dog came from!"

Ashley had to giggle. His mock outrage was so close to what she actually felt that it couldn't be anything but funny. "We need a cheat sheet for life," she agreed, dropping onto the couch with a sigh. Ranger nosed her ankle, and she leaned forward to scratch his ears absently. "They're probably just as confused in our dimension."

"At least they don't have to get in zords and let people shoot at them every few hours!" Zhane exclaimed. "I'd rather be him there than me here!"

Andros looked up, a puzzled look on his face. "What?"

"Well, not really, of course," Zhane said hastily. She thought Andros had just been distracted, but Zhane obviously wasn't taking any chances. "I think I'll go change," he added, retreating toward the bedroom. "Back in a minute."

Ashley watched Andros watch him go. The Red Ranger shook his head when the door slid shut behind Zhane, echoing her sigh. "I can't say anything right," he muttered.

She gave him a sympathetic look. "I don't think any of us can right now," she said, leaning back against the couch. The ceiling had a mosaic painted onto it. She hadn't noticed until now. "Zhane's just easier to hurt because he's more honest than us."

There was silence for a moment. "Do you think so?" Andros asked at last.

"No," he said, before she could answer. "Don't answer that. You're right."

He sounded almost surprised by the revelation, and she felt her mouth curve upwards. "Doesn't seem fair, does it?" she asked rhetorically. The mosaic was full of Ranger colors. She tried to picture the three of them painting anything, let alone a surface that big. Upside down.

"No," Andros repeated, more slowly. "It doesn't."

They sat in companionable quiet for a little longer. Then, out of nowhere, Andros surprised her by saying, "I love you."

The mosaic above her blurred, and she blinked several times in quick succession. "I know."

To her astonishment, he backed off. "Do you think our counterparts have figured out what happened yet?" he asked, kicking the bottom of the sofa idly. "They must have guessed what JT was trying to do."

She lifted her head to stare at him. Not for weeks had Andros let something go without being asked. In fact, now that she was trying, she couldn't even remember the last time it had happened. He was stubborn to a fault, and more so lately than usual.

"I hope so," she said at last, wondering at his sudden lapse in persistence. "It's hard enough for us, and we knew right away."

Staring at the far wall, Andros didn't answer.

_fin_


	19. Asunder II

__

Disclaimer: Carlos swears. Don't listen. Or look. Whatever. Saryn threatens to kill people, but what else is new. Justin yells at pretty much everyone. No small children were harmed in the production of this story. Yet. SOTPR.

****

Asunder II  
by Starhawk

It happened so fast that her head slammed against the floor before she realized she was in danger. She tried to push her awareness through the pain and the fog that seemed to blanket her vision, but the sound of a weapon arming made her pause. Moving might not be the wisest decision after all.

Kerone blinked rapidly, suppressing the instinct to shake her head. If she was concussed it would only make the throbbing worse, and if she wasn't the pain would abate on its own anyway. Her first priority was to disarm Ashley.

A disturbance from the courtyard entrance made Cassie whirl, and another weapon powered up. A third echoed it instantly, and the escalating hum made her head ache even more. She had to do something before they started shooting.

Saryn would kill her, but she couldn't isolate anyone that quickly through the pounding in her head. She cast the magic over the entire room, wincing as violet energy stretched and settled. It was a good thing Darkonda had never dared a physical attack on her. She couldn't concentrate properly when her head throbbed like this.

Kerone managed to pull herself to her feet, stepping carefully out of range of Ashley's astroblaster. The Yellow Ranger glared daggers at her, but there was nothing she could do with the spell keeping her frozen in place. Cassie had her back, her own astroblaster pinned on the figure in the doorway--

The look of cold hatred on Saryn's face took Kerone by surprise. His weapon was on his wrist, and he had turned it on the Pink Ranger without the slightest hesitation. The sight of him and Cassie facing each other down was unnerving, to say the least.

"Kerone?" Kyril sounded puzzled. "Did you do that?"

She whirled, startled to find Kyril right beside her. The spell should have held him as rigidly as the others. Yet there he was, regarding her with a curious expression that quickly turned to concern when she wavered. The abrupt turn had triggered the dizziness again, and Kyril caught her arm to steady her.

"Nobody move!" Mirine's was the voice of command, and it was accompanied by the sound of her weapon arming as she stepped through the courtyard door. Simultaneous with her entrance was that of Raine and Azmuth, coming in through the kitchen and compound doors, respectively. All three held weapons at the ready.

The floor tilted underneath her, and Kerone grabbed blindly for something to hold onto. Kyril's arms wrapped around her, keeping her from falling as he lowered her into a nearby chair. "I don't think you have to worry about anyone moving," he told Mirine over his shoulder. "She cast some sort of spell on them."

"She did what?" Mirine sounded more wary than confused, and she didn't lower her weapon. "Kyril, what's going on?"

"Something happened to Cassie," he answered, and Kerone felt his strangely reassuring touch on her shoulders. Somehow was holding her down and holding her up at the same time. She couldn't find her voice, but it probably didn't matter. She didn't know anymore than he did.

"She looked like she was in a lot of pain," Kyril continued, and Kerone silently agreed. Cassie had cried out, crumpling as quickly as though she had imploded, and even Kerone had known it would have to wake Saryn. "We tried to help her, but all of a sudden Ashley turned on Kerone. She threw her against the table over there, and I think Kerone must have hit her head.

"Cassie jumped up like she was fine, and when Saryn came charging in here she whipped a blaster out of nowhere and pointed it at him. He drew his weapon in self-defense, and that's when everything stopped." Kyril's tone altered slightly, and she knew he must have tilted his head to look down at her. "I think Kerone cast some kind of stillness spell on them or something."

"Yes," Kerone breathed, finally able to get a word out. She wasn't sure she'd be able to manage more than that, but the next few seemed to get easier as she went on. "Sorry... Saryn. Had to get everyone."

"Can you let him go now?" Kyril wanted to know. "Or is it all or nothing?"

She closed her eyes, concentrating through the haze. The magic fluctuated uncertainly, not sure what she wanted, and then she felt Kyril's hand on her forehead. Before she could protest, an azure flash faded from her vision and took the pain with it.

Startled, Kerone craned her neck to look up at him. The movement brought no fresh wave of dizziness, and the clouded vision she had been trying to ignore was gone. "What did you do?"

He looked apologetic. "Normally we don't use our healing power without asking, but you looked like you needed it. Comes with the crystal," he added, holding up the sapphire stone that hung around his neck.

She released Saryn absently, transferring her gaze to Kyril's necklace when he dropped it again. She had seen Saryn use that power once or twice, but none of the Astro Rangers seemed to have it. How did the Power decide which abilities went to which teams?

"Who are you?" Saryn ground out, interrupting her musing with a tone full of determined fury. "How did you get here? Where is my _wife_?"

He had raised his fist so his weapon was no longer pointing at Cassie, but he looked no less threatening than he had before. Kerone got to her feet with a sigh, noting out of the corner of her eye that none of the other Elisian Rangers had lowered their weapons. She walked over to Cassie and pulled her fingers carefully away from the grip of her blaster. She could feel Kyril watching her, and as soon as she had Cassie's blaster in her hand he did the same for Ashley.

Kerone let them go.

"What kind of disgusting trick is this?" Cassie spat. She and Ashley instinctively moved closer until their backs were pressed against each other. "Is this some new interrogation tactic? Because you might as well just beat it out of us and get it over with."

She wasn't pregnant, Kerone realized suddenly. Why had it taken her so long to notice that? This Cassie was dressed in a flight suit, carrying an astroblaster... and her stomach was perfectly flat.

"What is she talking about?" Azmuth demanded, from her position by the opposite door. Kerone saw the Yellow Ranger's gaze flick toward her partner, but Raine just shrugged minutely.

"Why don't you ask Astronema," Ashley suggested, viciously enough that it made Kerone flinch. "She's the one in charge of this little scenario."

"There is no Astronema here." Saryn's voice was deadly, and she couldn't help being touched that he would bother to defend her at a time like this. 

"Are you blind!" Ashley threw a finger in Kerone's direction. Azmuth swung out from the partial cover of the kitchen doorway, weapon still fixed on her target. The Yellow Astro Ranger would move no further, that much was clear, and Ashley scowled. "She's right there! She's probably messing with our minds right now!"

"Gods." Saryn's curse drew every eye in the room, but he was already lowering his weapon. The look of defeat on his face was terrible to see. "They're from the other dimension."

"What?" Mirine's startled exclamation told Kerone that at least one person here had some idea what he was talking about. "How do you know?"

"I know," Saryn said tiredly. He was staring at Cassie with a hollow expression that made Kerone want to send him away, far away, where nothing could touch him. "I just know."

"You mean the dimension where that kid is doing the experiments?" Raine drew her own weapon back and let it power down. "I thought you said he was going to stop them when he found out they were hurting Cassie."

"He was." Saryn had yet to look away from Cassie, who was staring back at him uncertainly. "Clearly something made JT change his mind."

"JT?" Cassie frowned, turning her head a little as though to confer with Ashley. "Since when do you--"

"What do you know about JT?" Ashley interrupted. "Where are the others? What did you do with the other Rangers?"

"We _are_ the other Rangers," Kyril put in. "A fact which seems to have escaped your notice thus far."

"She means her teammates," Saryn muttered. "Do you have any idea why you're here?" he added, gaze sliding from Cassie to Ashley. "What reason could JT have had for attempting to transfer you just now?"

Ashley gave him a suspicious look. "Do what? What are you talking about?"

The floor beside her right foot exploded with a searing hiss, and Saryn lifted his weapon to target Ashley's chest. "Don't play games with me," he warned, no expression in his voice. "JT's mistake may have killed my wife and children. If you wish to avoid such a fate yourself, you will help us determine what happened."

Kerone saw Azmuth lower her weapon too, following Raine's example. Mirine didn't move, though whether she was reinforcing Saryn or trying to remind him not to do something stupid, it was hard to say. His sister wasn't making any effort to reign him in, but she might know him well enough to realize there was nothing to do with his madness except let it burn.

Ashley must have recognized it too, because she swallowed once. "JT might have... he might have tried to get us off the Megaship," she said at last. She held absolutely still, but her gaze darted toward Cassie for just a moment. "We lost contact with him--a few minutes ago, but he knew... I think he knew we weren't going to make it."

"You think JT did it?" Cassie interjected. Her tone was careful, and she glanced from Saryn to Mirine warily. "You think he actually got us out?"

"No," Saryn said shortly. "I think he failed yet again, with typically disastrous results. I think he opened his 'doorway' and sent my wife to her death in your place. You'll forgive me if I don't congratulate him on his achievement."

A pall fell over the room, and if Kerone had been able to think she might have remembered to keep Saryn from pulling the trigger. But she was too stunned by the implications of what he had just said. Was it possible that, instead of saving his own teammates, JT had condemned theirs to death?

Saryn's weapon fell. He turned away, brushing past Mirine as he strode out of the building. She reached out to touch his shoulder but didn't try to stop him. She kept her weapon trained on Ashley and Cassie, but they looked just as shocked as everyone else.

"Who... who's his wife?" Cassie asked timidly, wincing as her voice broke the oppressive silence.

"You." Mirine's tone was brusque. "You said you weren't going to make it--is there any chance you were wrong?"

Cassie and Ashley exchanged glances, and it was with obvious reluctance that Ashley shook her head. "No," she said slowly. "We were dead, and we knew it. We didn't have a chance against the Dark Fortress."

Kerone looked away. She was torn between going after Saryn and letting him have his privacy. She wasn't sure how much of this story she really wanted to hear.

The sound of Mirine's weapon powering down drew her attention, and the Pink Ranger caught and held her eye. As though she knew what Kerone had been thinking, she jerked her head toward the doorway. Kerone hesitated for a moment, but the instruction was clear.

She found Saryn in the courtyard, on his knees in front of the fountain. She knew he would sense her coming up behind him, so she didn't bother to speak. He didn't move when she dropped her hand to his shoulder, and she debated with herself for several seconds. Finally, though, she laid her other hand over his forehead the way she had seen him do for Mirine from time to time. 

It was the same gesture Kyril had used on her earlier, she realized suddenly. She suspected it had some significance that she didn't completely understand, but it always made Mirine smile. Right now she didn't think offending him was her biggest worry anyway.

"You're supposed to know," he said softly, startling her.

She looked down in surprise, but he hadn't moved. "Know what?"

"You're supposed to know when someone you love dies," he explained. "Me more than anyone. I should know the second something happens to her. But I don't feel anything."

She hadn't expected him to say anything, much less this. "Maybe that's because she isn't dead," she offered, trying to keep her voice as neutral as possible.

"I don't feel anything," he repeated, as though she hadn't spoken. "It's like she doesn't exist. It's like she never existed."

*Because she's not in this dimension anymore?* Kerone wondered privately. But then why wouldn't he be able to sense the Cassie that stood in the community center? He had known what was happening the moment they did--but his Cassie had still been in this dimension then.

"I've felt people die before," he continued. His tone was detached in a way she had expected, considering his dispassionate threat when Ashley pretended not to understand. "It's agony. It's worse than that; it's--indescribable. But this... this is nothing. I feel nothing."

"You feel nothing?" she repeated, because she felt he expected her to say something. "Or you feel nothing from her?"

He didn't answer, and she bit her lip. Maybe it would have been better to stay silent. He was more unpredictable when he was hurt than at any other time, and she knew how violently he could lash out.

"I can't feel Cassie," he said at last. "I feel you. I feel Mirine. I feel everyone... even that--that other woman. But I can't feel Cassie."

If the worst turned out to be true, maybe that would be one small mercy. If Cassie really were gone, at least Saryn hadn't had to feel her die. She was careful not to voice that thought aloud.

"I can hear you," he added, almost as an afterthought. "I do not agree, but I understand the sentiment."

She frowned down at him, puzzled--and then the meaning of his words crystalized in her mind. Kerone dropped her hands and took a step back, horrified. "I'm sorry," she whispered, eyes wide.

"No, you're not." His tone was just as expressionless as it had been in the community center. "I know you, Kerone. You don't feel things the way the others do. It's..." He hesitated, but she got the feeling that he wasn't bothering to edit himself right now. He just wasn't paying that much attention. "To an empath, it makes you very relaxing to be around."

She didn't know what to say to that.

"If I had felt her die," he continued, reverting easily to the previous topic, "I could go mad." For the first time, there was something like expression in his tone. He sounded almost conversational. 

"Do you see?" Saryn lifted his head at last, staring into the fountain. "If I knew for sure, I could give up. But I don't. And so I'm trapped: I can not accept that she is dead, but I can't believe she is alive."

Kerone felt the first flicker of fear. As long as he sounded dazed and uncaring, she had written off his reaction as shock. Unpredictable, occasionally violent, Saryn-style shock, but shock nonetheless. Now with that half-curious, half-resigned note in his voice, he sounded a little too rational for her liking.

They needed answers, and they needed them now. Before Saryn found an alternative to insanity that wasn't any better. 

"How do you know JT?" she asked abruptly. "Does he have a counterpart in this dimension, like--" She just barely stopped herself from adding, like Cassie and Ashley do?

Saryn didn't move. "Justin."

She frowned. "Who?"

"Justin," he repeated, as though she might not have heard. "A Ranger for Earth before they went into space. He now resides on Eltare, where he has been conducting experiments with interdimensional travel."

Kerone stared down at the top of his head. "Is that a coincidence?" she asked finally.

"No." Was it her imagination, or was Saryn starting to sound more pensive than despondent? "He and JT have been working together on their current project. It is... not impossible that Justin might know something about what has happened."

"Then let's go," Kerone insisted. "We have to at least ask. Even if he doesn't know, maybe he can help us find out."

Saryn turned his head, and she held out her hand impulsively. He didn't look up, but after a moment he did take her hand. She didn't pull, wary of pushing him too hard right now, but he stood without further prompting. He let her keep his hand in hers as they made their way across the courtyard.

***

He changed. She shoved him back without thinking. Off balance, his foot caught on the edge of the reef and he hit the water with a tumultuous splash. It gave her time to draw her weapon, and by the time he broke the surface with a choking gasp she was ready for him.

"Who are you?" Aura demanded, her stunner trained on his head.

He sputtered unintelligibly, throwing his long hair out of his face as he found footing on an underwater ledge. "Who the fuck are you?" he retorted angrily, gaze darting around as though he hadn't seen her stunner. "Where am I?"

She blinked at the unfamiliar word. Context suggested an imprecation, but it wasn't one she could remember hearing Carlos use. "I'm the one with the weapon," she reminded him. "Answer the question."

"Carlos Vargas," he spat. "Black Astro Ranger. Who. Are. You!"

"Aura of Aquitar," she said, narrowing her eyes. "The person who will make you pay for your lies. What have you done with Carlos?"

"What are you, a freak?" he shot back. "I am Carlos! Did Astronema put you up to this? Where is she? Doesn't she have the guts to do her own dirty work?"

Aura frowned warily. "There is no Astronema. Why do you ask for Kerone by her former name when she has forsaken her identity as the princess of evil?"

He gaped at her. Standing in water higher than his waist, silver flightsuit turned dark grey from the dunking and his hair still dripping down his neck and shoulders, he was for the first time at a loss for words. It took that brief moment of silence for her to realize that he too wore a weapon on his belt, but he took her seriously enough that he made no move for it.

"Get out of the water," she said at last, stepping backward and motioning with her stunner. "No sudden moves."

He made no attempt to obey. "Andros' sister was named Kerone." 

"She still is," Aura snapped. "I'm not the one calling her Astronema!"

"What are you saying?" His disgusted look was more insulting than anything he could have said. "You think Astronema is Andros' long lost sister? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"

"The most ridiculous thing I've ever heard is you trying to deny it when it's so obviously true! Now get out of the water before I make this easier by rendering you unconscious!"

He came forward slowly, hands held away from his body except when he needed them to pull himself up onto the reef. "If Astronema is Kerone, what's she doing shooting at us?" he demanded belligerently. "She's taking the sibling rivalry thing a little too far, don't you think?"

"Into the flit," she ordered, gesturing toward the vehicle bobbing on the other side of their little island. "Kerone hasn't fired on a Ranger since the Robot Rangers, and she was acting in self-defense." 

"The what?!" He stopped short, frowning at her in consternation. "Did you just say Robot Rangers?"

"My language skills are not in question here," she retorted. "Get in the flit!"

"Wait... Aura, did you say?" He was starting to look more confused than angry. "You have Robot Rangers? Is one of them--Jay, by any chance?"

She shook her head irritably. "We have never been introduced. What does it matter?"

"It matters because JT was working with Justin and his robot counterpart Jay to invent ID travel." He had that look of single-minded determination that she knew so well, and for just a moment she saw her own Carlos in this vision of the past. "Does that mean anything to you?"

She released the trigger abruptly, lifting her stunner up to point skyward. "You are from JT's dimension?"

He nodded once, still looking bemused. "You could say that... yeah." He gave her an odd look. "Who are you, again?"

Suddenly uncomfortable, she frowned. "I am Ranger Aura, of Aquitar. If you are here... where is my Carlos?"

"_Your_ Carlos?" he repeated incredulously.

She gave him the most withering look she could manage. "The Carlos with whom I was just... speaking, when you so rudely interrupted us with your presence. Where is he?"

"How should I know?" he shot back. "I don't even know where I am!"

She sighed. "The Rey fields, at the base of the Eternal Falls." When he didn't look anymore enlightened, she added condescendingly, "Aquitar?"

His eyes widened, and he stared around as though he had never been here before. "This... this is Aquitar?"

"You do not recognize it?" She wasn't sure what to think about that.

"I've never seen it before," he admitted, staring toward the cliffs on the horizon. "Dark Spectre didn't give us a chance to mount any kind of united defense force." After a pause too brief for her to fill with words, he added, "This is... amazing. Eltare doesn't have anything like this."

Somewhat mollified by his frank admiration, she softened her voice a little. "You are under siege by Dark Spectre, then?"

He turned a look of disbelief on her once more. "You're not?"

"With Kerone's assistance, Dark Spectre was recently destroyed," she told him. "The Alliance of Evil has retreated to its pre-monarchy territory."

His shock was tinged with wistfulness as he repeated, "Destroyed? You destroyed Dark Spectre?"

She nodded wordlessly. She felt a flicker of sympathy for this intruder, and she squashed it ruthlessly. This was not Carlos. It was a stranger with his face, an unwilling visitor from a dimension where life was not what it was here. She would not--could not--let herself feel anything for him. Not even sympathy.

"With Kerone's assistance," he echoed, a speculative look taking the place of his surprise. "Astronema is Kerone, huh? Andros is going to love this..."

Aura tried not to wince. There couldn't be any harm in his knowing--could there? But things had happened differently there. What if Astronema _wasn't_ Kerone in his universe? What if Kerone had been killed, and a new princess of darkness raised up in her place? Would the conviction that Astronema was Andros' sister get one of the Astro Rangers hurt?

Don't feel, she reminded herself harshly. It was none of her affair. If this other Carlos chose to act on events that had occurred in her dimension, surely that wasn't her responsibility. 

Was it?

"Where are the others, anyway?" he was asking, suspicion in his tone once more. "If I'm here in your dimension, why aren't they? And what am I doing here? Did JT do this on purpose, or did something go wrong?"

"I am not qualified to comment on JT's intentions," Aura reminded him, reaching for her communicator. "But I suggest that if you somehow switched places with my Carlos, your teammates have probably replaced their counterparts in this dimension as well."

She lowered her stunner long enough to signal the Ranger Dome, but she didn't take her eyes off of him. "Control," she said, not entirely sure there was anyone there to answer her.

"Cetaci." The reply came back almost immediately.

"We have--" She hesitated. "A small problem. Is there any word from Earth?"

"No." Cetaci sounded more curious than concerned. "Should there be? What is the problem? Do you require assistance?"

"The Astro Rangers seem to have been... dimensionally shifted." She regarded "Carlos" warily, as though saying the words aloud made him still more foreign. "I find myself in the company of Carlos' counterpart from--JT's dimension.

"I do not believe I am in danger," she added, anticipating Cetaci's next question. "However, it seems likely that this phenomenon has affected Carlos' teammates as well."

"Interesting." Cetaci had picked that up from Billy, Aura was sure. "I will contact Earth. Are you on your way here now? I can teleport you, if you prefer."

"I would appreciate that," Aura agreed. She couldn't help feeling relieved. The less time she spent in this Carlos' company, the easier it would be to pretend that he wasn't a real person. "We are standing by."

She caught Carlos' eye, and he nodded once. The teleportation stream enveloped them a moment later, and they left Rey behind. The red rush restored some of her perspective, and she felt a little better by the time it dispersed. Carlos was a Ranger, after all, and stranger things had happened. To both of them.

The Earth Ranger logo was already on the screen when they joined Cetaci, and it didn't fade even after the comm indicated a link had been established. Tessa's voice spoke over the multi-colored bars with no visual component. The sound quality was a little worse than usual for being rerouted through several not completely compatible systems.

"This is Tessa," she announced. There was no hesitation that Aura could detect, but she didn't sound quite as... carefree as usual. It was hard to tell with the distance between them.

"Cetaci," the White Ranger replied, giving Carlos a thorough once-over. Aura made herself hold Cetaci's gaze when that careful scrutiny turned to her. "We seem to have an interdimensional traveler in our midst.

"You too?" Tessa's relief was unmistakable. "TJ weirded out on me just before dinner, and you wouldn't believe the trouble I had explaining _that_ to his family."

"Carlos too," Aura put in, not waiting for Cetaci to answer. "He says he's from the same dimension as Justin's friend JT."

"Wonderful. Sounds like it's time to call Justin." There was a noise that could only be a sigh from the other end of the link. "I can't even tell you how much I don't have time to fly to Eltare right now."

"We could teleport you here first," Cetaci offered unexpectedly. "If further travel becomes necessary, you would at least be closer to Eltare."

There was a pause. "That'd be great," Tessa said at last. "Thanks. Let me just call Karen back and we'll let you know."

Despite her best efforts to focus her attention elsewhere, she couldn't help being aware of Carlos. Thus she caught the lift of his head when Tessa mentioned Karen, and his sharply indrawn breath was obvious. She felt a pang of jealousy, knew it was foolish, and acted on it anyway.

"Something wrong?" she asked, just low enough that the comm wouldn't catch it.

He gave her a quick look, then shook his head. Only after Cetaci had broken the link did he speak. "Karen..." He said the name as though it was all that mattered, but when he caught her staring at him he added, "Karen's--on Earth?"

"She holds the Yellow Astro Power," Cetaci answered. She didn't even bother to glance over her shoulder at him. "Her place is on the planet she defends."

"Karen's a Ranger?" he repeated. A smile tugged at his lips, and it was hard to say whether there was amusement or pride behind it. Maybe both. 

Aura looked away, reminding herself that he wasn't who he looked like. Different dimension, different person. This wasn't really Carlos.

***

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"How can you not know! You're him! What was he trying to do?"

"Why can't we contact him, again? I thought you spoke to him before."

"This experiment was supposed to stop months ago. Why has it continued?"

"We have to get back before the Dark Fortress gets to Eltare. They don't have any idea what's coming."

"If he could send us here, you should be able to send us back."

"Was there no way to warn us? Did you not detect the shift somehow?"

"Hey, what does this do?"

Justin Stewart was not having a good day. He considered counting to ten, but somehow he didn't think it would help. In lieu of any rational solution, he closed his eyes and shouted at the top of his lungs, "SHUT UP!"

For one brief moment, silence fell. Then Carlos started again. "But I--"

Justin opened his eyes and glared at him. "What part of 'shut up' don't you understand? Do. Not. Talk!"

Carlos closed his mouth.

The comm chimed.

Justin narrowed his eyes, daring any of the others to make a sound. When no one did, he frowned over at the vid screen. "Before I ask the obvious question," he said, as calmly as he could, "I want to make it clear that unless the answer is 'yes', I don't want ANY of you to say ANYTHING.

"Does anyone recognize that logo?"

"I do." It was the first time Kerone had spoken since she and Saryn arrived, and for that he grudgingly gave her credit. 

Taking a deep breath, Justin turned toward the former princess of evil. "Yes, Kerone?"

"It's the Kerovan Rangers," she offered, looking a little bored. She didn't seem intimidated in the slightest, but she also wasn't clamoring for his attention, so he supposed it evened out. "Andros and Zhane must have figured out what happened."

She even knew something. Maybe that tipped the balance in her favor. He tentatively moved Kerone from the 'bad' list to the 'neutral' list in his mind.

He tripped the comm link. "This is Justin," he announced, with some trepidation.

"Hello..." The voice on the other end was both unfamiliar and uncertain, and Justin suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. "My name is Ty. I don't know you, but I have two Rangers here who claim they do."

"Justin?" Andros' voice replaced Ty's. "I don't suppose you've heard from JT recently?"

"No!" Justin gritted his teeth and repeated more calmly, "No, I haven't."

"That doesn't sound good." Andros might as well have been reviewing a movie. His demeanor was a distinct and welcome change from the frantic chatter that had preceded his call. "I'm a little worried that your Rangers are in the same situation that we were before we found ourselves here."

That counting to ten might come in handy after all. Justin made it to about three before the silence started to drag. "What situation is that?"

Andros had the grace to sound abashed. "The Dark Fortress was about to destroy the Megaship. I assume JT made a last ditch effort to yank us out of there, and he sent us here instead. But if your Rangers switched places with us--"

"They're toast," Justin finished. The words touched off an inexplicable feeling of rage, and Sandy's empathic training identified the feeling immediately. He swung around to pin a glare on the Elisian. "Stop that!"

Saryn's eyes flashed, and the dark look on his face made Justin wonder if he had just crossed a line better left uncrossed. The former Phantom took a step toward him, but Kerone took his arm casually and he stopped as though frozen in place. Her grip seemed to be no more than a touch, but it must have been enough. 

The feeling of rage began to subside, and Justin bit his tongue to keep from making a snide remark about mental control. If an empath that strong couldn't keep himself from projecting involuntarily, he had no business being out in public. Sandy had made sure they all knew something about mental communication, whether they had the ability or not, and now he silently thanked her for it.

"Bad time?" Andros suggested, his voice a little too unconcerned.

Justin narrowed his eyes at the comm. "You have no idea. I have all of your teammates and some very angry friends here right now." He hesitated, but the group consisted of everyone except the one Ranger that might actually be able to help. "Want to make my day complete?"

"If you insist." Andros sounded almost amused. "I assume you've already tried to contact JT?"

This time Justin did roll his eyes. "No, Andros. Why would I want to make him deal with the huge mess he created? It's not like I have anything better to do. It's not like I haven't tried to call him a *hundred* times since Saryn broke down my freakin' door!"

"Right." Sympathy was not a tone Andros did well, and he only ended up sounding more amused. "Can you get your friends to entertain them? We'll be there in a little while, and I'll do whatever I can to help."

"Well, there's a relief," Justin muttered under his breath. JT's Andros really did know something about ID travel, which was useful and might even turn out to matter in some way, but right now... the promise of more chaos was not what he needed.

"Take your time," he remarked sarcastically.

"Will do," Andros replied, unperturbed.

As soon as the comm link was broken, it began all over again.

"Justin, I really think--"

"Is it possible that--"

Justin put his hands over his ears, staring pointedly at the blank vid screen, and eventually they got the message. When he had told them to come to Eltare, he hadn't meant "come to Eltare and drive me insane". He had been thinking more along the lines of "come to Eltare and sit quietly while I figure out what to do with all of you." Clearly, something had been lost in translation.

"All right," he said at last, lowering his hands. "Here's what we're going to do. Sandy?"

Cassie's Robot Ranger looked up from the doorway where she had been idly braiding her hair. "What's up?"

"Could you please take everyone except TJ... somewhere else?" He really didn't care where, as long as they weren't in the same room with him. It was like being mobbed by hungry children. TJ was the most rational of the dimensional travelers at this point, and might actually have something useful to contribute about the situation that had brought them here.

"Baby-sitting duty," she translated. "Great." She flashed an apologetic grin at the others, which no one except Kerone seemed to find amusing. "Just so we know where we stand."

"Whatever you call it," Justin said with a sigh. "I can't concentrate with everyone in here. I'll call you the moment I know anything."

"We'll be next door," Sandy said, straightening. "I'll get John to help too. Want me to wake Jay up?"

"No." Jay had earned this last charge cycle, but some things were more important. Like Justin's sanity. "I'll do it."

***

Ty hadn't expected a particularly warm welcome at the Keyota hostel, but he had thought someone would at least be there. The girls' room had been empty, and when the room Zhane shared with Andros was equally deserted he had taken the opportunity to look around. He had felt a little guilty poking into the empty room, but he knew he might never have another chance--not when Andros was there, anyway.

The chime of his digimorpher had caught him off guard, and he had been a little disappointed to find that Andros was looking for Ashley. The disappointment had turned to confusion when Andros started asking for former teammates, and Ty had tried not to take offense when Andros pretended not to know who he was. It was childish, of course, but the Red Ranger had already proved he was capable of that.

Hours later, as he watched "Andros" confer with the Blue Ranger from Eltare, Ty was forced to amend his initial reaction. The Red Ranger *he* knew was capable of that... this Andros was different somehow. He didn't pretend to follow the logistics of dimensional travel, but Andros' mien had changed completely since this morning. This was not the same person that had outright refused to speak to him except in the most dire of circumstances. This was a level-headed, compassionate, and perfectly confident... Ranger.

It was, to be honest, what he had always expected Andros to be like. Power Rangers were almost legendary on KO-35. Andros and Zhane had earned a special affection from the Kerovans for their unparalleled devotion to the planet and to each other. Ty had always assumed such beings would be above petty concerns like jealousy and mind games.

Andros had proven him wrong. The show of unity he and Zhane put up for the benefit of KO-35 was nothing but a front, and the realization had been horribly disillusioning. _"You can't love this much without hating just a little,"_ Kerone had said. But why not? He had wanted to believe in these heroes so much...

Yet here, in these displaced Rangers from another dimension, he found the heroes he had been looking for. This is what he had thought Andros and Zhane would be like: calm in the face of a crisis, caring enough to put those around them at ease, with the authority to get what they wanted and wise enough to know what it was. It was like meeting legends come to life.

"Ty?" Andros' voice intruded on his musing, and he looked up in surprise. The Red Ranger was staring down at something on Justin's display, but he glanced over at Ty before continuing. "Do you remember what time it was when we called you from the hangar bay?"

Momentarily at a loss, Ty tried to organize his wandering thoughts. "It was... I left Chessa Brook just after ten. It would have been later in Keyota, obviously--"

"Six hours," Zhane told Andros.

"How long had you been in Keyota when we called?" Andros pressed. "Minutes? Hours?"

"Probably... almost an hour?" Ty offered uncertainly. Now he wished he had been paying more attention to their conversation. He had no idea what they were trying to figure out.

"It was sometime before six on Earth," TJ put in, pointing to something on the screen. "Give or take. I remember that girl saying we were supposed to be at dinner by six."

"Well, that's something." Justin, too, was frowning at the display in front of them. "If we can narrow down your time of arrival, we'll have a better chance of tracking the dimensional flux. I'll check with Aura and see if she remembers anything.

"Someone else please talk to Saryn," he added with a sigh. "Or better yet, Kerone. I don't know how good she is with Elisian time, but at least she can think about something other than Cassie."

TJ frowned, and Andros hesitated for the first time. Ty saw the Red Ranger exchange glances with his partner, and he spoke before he knew what he was going to say. "I'll do it," Ty told them, surprising himself. "Where is she?"

"She's in the library with the others," Justin answered. "I can teleport you if you don't want to call."

In truth, he'd forgotten that he could call her. "Sure," he said, glad that he'd been offered a way out. "At least if I go over there, maybe they'll ask me their questions instead of you. It'll probably take at least a dozen 'I don't know's before they catch on."

Andros actually laughed, and Ty hoped he didn't look as surprised as he felt. "Sacrificing yourself for us?" the Red Ranger suggested with a grin. "Thanks. We owe you."

Before he could come up with an answer for that, Justin warned him that he was about to teleport. The abrupt darkness was disconcerting, but nowhere near as much as the sudden change of his surroundings. He had rarely had reason to teleport before becoming a Ranger, and now he'd done it three times in a single day.

The disorientation was overwhelmed by the realization that he had just made a huge mistake. He didn't know any of these people. He had heard of some of them, and seen others on the news, but that only emphasized the fact that they were all Rangers. He was just a kid from a rec crew who had been in the right place at the wrong time--

"Ty?" Kerone's voice rescued him from a suddenly intimidating situation. "How are they doing?"

He found himself the focus of every Ranger within hearing distance, which was most of them. "Better than I am," he blurted, then grinned sheepishly at her rueful look. "They're good, I guess. I'm no judge of Andros under normal circumstances, but... Zhane seems to be all right."

"Who are you?" Cassie wanted to know, catching him off guard. Then she softened the words with a smile and an apologetic shrug. "No offense... it's been kind of a long day."

"No argument there," he agreed fervently. They exchanged a look of perfect understanding, and he felt a little more at ease. "I'm Ty. I'm... actually, uh--I'm the Black Kerovan Ranger."

"You say that like you're not sure," Ashley put in, grinning to let him know she was teasing.

"Well..." He lifted one shoulder in a shrug and grinned back. "I'm not, really. It happened kind of quickly."

"He was chosen yesterday," Kerone interrupted. "So was I. We just came back from a Power quest."

Cassie glanced sideways at Kerone as though she had been trying unsuccessfully to ignore her presence, but Ashley stared at her in outright shock. "You're a Power Ranger?!"

Surprised, Ty looked at Kerone too. She nodded once, not bothering to meet either of their gazes. Why they were more startled by her being a Ranger than him was a mystery, but it didn't seem to affect her. Kerone only continued to regard him, and finally he remembered why he had come.

"Oh--Justin wants to know what time it was when they got switched." Ty gestured vaguely in Ashley and Cassie's direction, hoping she would know what he meant. It was difficult enough trying to remember who they were without also having to figure out what to call them.

Kerone frowned, apparently thinking about that. After a moment, though, she shook her head and admitted, "I don't have any idea. Let me ask Saryn."

Ty glanced around, wondering if he should tell her what Justin had said about asking her instead. "Where is he?" he asked, a little nervously. He had never met the leader of the Elisian team, but if Andros was anything to go by, he was pretty sure he didn't want to anger another Red Ranger.

Kerone didn't seem to be listening, but after a brief hesitation she rolled her eyes. "He says checking the clock wasn't his first priority, but it was almost first dawn after our little shootout in the community center." 

She seemed to focus on him again, and Ty resisted the urge to take a step back. No one had told him Kerone was a telepath. "I remember the sky being light too, but 'first dawn' doesn't mean anything to me. Why does Justin need to know?"

"I'm not sure," Ty confessed. "Something about... tracking a dimensional flux?" He dragged the words out of his memory, but they meant even less to him than "first dawn". Kerone shook her head, silently signaling her own confusion.

Ty gave a dismissive shrug, pulling out his digimorpher and flipping it open. "Justin," he said, casting his eyes over the room as he spoke. Saryn was nowhere to be seen. "All Saryn can tell us is that it was first dawn wherever he was on Elisia. Does that help any?" 

Only when Justin's voice came back did he realize what he had just done. As when he had answered his digimorpher earlier, the action was instinctive. He had wanted to call Justin, so he did it. Now he wasn't even sure what buttons he had pushed.

"Maybe," Justin answered, sounding more than a little preoccupied. "Aura knew the local and the standard time, so that may be enough. I'll let you know."

"Thanks, Ty," Andros' voice added over the communicator. He sounded amused, as though he added the words because he knew Justin would forget to, and Ty shook his head in wonder.

When the link didn't break, he realized Justin had acknowledged the courtesy by waiting for his answer. "You're welcome," he said, a little awkwardly. 

"What?" he demanded, catching Kerone's look as he closed his digimorpher. "It's weird!"

She just smiled. "No one ever said my brother was easy."

_fin_


	20. Different Circumstances II

__

Disclaimer: Apparently, "Power Rangers" now belongs to Disney, and more specifically to Buena Vista Studios. I'm going to have to modify my "SOTPR" acronym. In the meantime, I shall thank Janette for the name "Sai Kung", and also apologize for making an already confusing situation moreso by leaving all narrative out of this story. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

****

Different Circumstances II  
by Starhawk

"Hi."

"Hey, Ty."

"Mind if I sit down?"

"If you're brave enough to mingle... be my guest."

"We did kind of split down the middle, didn't we."

"I think everyone's a little freaked out right now. We don't know any of you, and you guys must hate us for what JT did.

"It's not your fault. JT was trying to rescue you."

"Yeah... that doesn't make what happened any better, though. I think you're the first person from this dimension to speak to me since we left Elisia."

"Didn't Kerone bring you here?"

"You mean Astronema? She and Saryn put us in a shuttle and flew us here, but what were we supposed to say to each other? She's the princess of evil, and he's not exactly our best friend."

"Who, Saryn? What do you mean?"

"Saryn doesn't like the Astro Rangers much. I don't think he'd talk to any of us if he didn't hate Cassie so much. He can't resist a chance to be mean to her."

"But--aren't they married? I though one of the Elisian Rangers married someone from Earth."

"Someone told us they're married here. I have no idea how *that* happened, especially since he's just as horrible in this dimension as he is in ours."

"...Why do you still call Kerone Astronema?"

"Why do you call her Kerone?"

"Because it's her name!"

"Weird. That was the name of Andros' sister, too... It's kind of creepy to think that Astronema might have a Kerovan name."

"But she does. Kerone *is* Andros' sister."

"She's still alive here?"

"She's right there!"

"That's Astronema!"

"She *was* Astronema! Now she's Kerone!"

"You are *not* telling me that Astronema is Andros' sister."

"You didn't know?"

"Ty, Astronema has been trying to kill us for years. How can you think that Andros' little sister grew up to be the princess of evil?"

"He grew up to be the leader of the Astro Rangers, didn't he?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I'm just saying that if Andros is a military leader, it shouldn't be so surprising that Kerone was too. Maybe it runs in the family."

"She leads the forces of darkness!"

"She leads the people she grew up with! How does she know they're evil if she doesn't remember good?"

"...Does she remember now?"

"Has she tried to kill you yet?"

"Yes! Well... she cast a spell on us."

"Did it hurt you?"

"No... I guess not. But *Astronema*?"

"She's not Astronema anymore! She's a Power Ranger! She helped destroy Dark Spectre!"

"She what?"

"She helped destroy Dark Spectre. When she first defected, she brought information about the dark forces with her. Some of the Power Rangers used it to ambush his ship and destroy him."

"Wow... how did you--how did you convince her to help you?"

"I don't know. That was before KO-35 was freed, and I was still in exile with the rest of the rebels. You could ask... well, no. I guess you couldn't ask Zhane."

"...I'm sorry. I wish this hadn't happened."

"No, don't say that. I wouldn't wish you dead."

"But you wouldn't wish your friends dead, either."

"We don't know they're dead. Maybe JT managed to get them out somehow. Everyone just assumes the worst, but we don't have any idea what really happened. They could be fine."

"Do you really believe that?"

"Do you really think it's impossible?"

"There's a difference between 'possible' and 'likely'."

"And the Power Rangers make that difference nonexistent every other day. That's what Rangers do--they don't just survive, they triumph. That's what it means to never give up."

"...Have you ever given up, Ty?"

"Not when it mattered. Not when someone else's life was at stake."

"I wish I could say that."

"What do you mean?"

"Me and the others... we're fighting for Eltare, now."

"That's... good. If Dark Spectre and Astronema are still around, Eltare probably needs you."

"Earth needed us more."

"What happened to Earth?"

"It fell to Dark Spectre."

"...What?"

"Earth was conquered two years ago. Our base was destroyed and we lost our powers... so we ran. We had a couple of friends who offered us a lift to Eltare, and at the time it seemed like the smartest thing to do. We couldn't fight without the Power, so we went to Zordon. We thought he'd be able to help us."

"And did he?"

"He wouldn't let us go back. He said there was nothing we could do for Earth, and we had to concentrate our resources on the worlds that were still free. We met up with Andros and Zhane right after that, and they gave us the astromorphers."

"You met them... on Eltare?"

"KO-35 wasn't free in our dimension, either. It still isn't. They had retreated the same as us, but they lost four of their teammates before they made it to the Free Systems."

"I'm sorry..."

"So am I. I hate replacing them. I hate thinking there was something else we could have done if only we'd stayed on Earth. I hate running. I hate fighting. And I am so *sick* of this war!"

"...You're stronger than I am, I think."

"Everyone says that, but it's not true! When we lose a Ranger, someone always steps up to take their place. Sometimes it's someone who just said the day before that they weren't strong enough to do what we do, and then they do it. The situation makes us into people that can handle it--I just don't like what it's making me."

"For whatever it's worth, I like who you are."

"That's not me. It's Andros and Zhane, I think... sometimes they're all that keeps me sane. Them and the people we protect."

"Would you have met those people if it wasn't for the war?"

"Their lives would have been happier if they hadn't had to meet me."

"But they did, and you can't change that. All you can do is make what you have now as good as it can be."

"That's not very good."

"Someday it will be. Someday you'll defeat Dark Spectre. Someday everything he conquered will be free, and you'll go back to Earth."

"I won't."

"If you don't have hope--"

"No, that's not what I mean. It's... it's a pretty picture, your someday. We talk about it sometimes. That's how I know I won't go back to Earth."

"I don't understand."

"Do you recognize this logo?"

"The double planet insignia. It's... wait--what are the words for? Do they all say that?"

"No. Just mine and Zhane's and Andros'."

"What does 'Sai Kung' mean?"

"Sai Kung was the last free town on KO-35. Zhane and Andros had it added to their uniforms after their friends died, as a promise to their teammates. To never forget, and to go back someday. To make their sacrifice mean what they wanted it to mean."

"Why does your uniform have it too?"

"I swore my allegiance to KO-35 last year. If we ever do defeat Dark Spectre--if someday ever comes--I'm going with Andros and Zhane. Sai Kung will be free again, and we'll throw the slavers off of KO-35 forever."

"You do have hope, then..."

"Anyone who doesn't, dies. But sometimes it's harder to hold onto than others."

"Maybe we can help you."

"After what we've done to your teammates? Even if we could think of something, we wouldn't ask."

"Look, I don't want to lose them anymore than you do. But I've never heard of any Ranger that turned their back on a whole universe because of an accident."

"The death of a teammate can make anyone irrational."

"Whose side are you on, anyway?"

"All right, all right. I'm sorry. Thanks... for trying to help."

"To be honest, I'm bored. Let's go talk to Kerone."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"No, but I'm pretty sure that sitting here doing nothing isn't a stroke of genius either. I don't know what she can do, but then again, I don't know what she can do. So let's ask."

"You know we'll have to cross the invisible line between our side and your side."

"I'm ready if you are."

***

"Um... hello? Wow, it's cold out here."

"I wish to be alone."

"Well, we don't always get what we want, do we... wait--don't leave!"

"One of us must."

"No--look, I came to say that... I'm sorry."

"Sorry is not enough."

"I--I know. But it's all I have."

"I, too, thanks to your friend."

"Saryn... maybe they're not dead. Did you ever think of that? They're not us, after all--maybe they found a way out."

"'Maybe' is the only reason I'm here."

"You... are you really married?"

"What is it to you?"

"It's... it's more than I can tell you."

"I wear her ring. What significance that has when the only person who makes my life matter is gone, I do not know."

"I didn't know you could be so selfish."

"And I didn't know you could be so cruel. If you do not go, I will."

"Listen to me. She. Had. You! You were together, what? A year? Two years? Ten? You were *together,* and all you can do is cry that she's gone? Some of us were never that lucky!"

"If this is your luck, then you are welcome to it."

"If this is your gratitude, then I don't know what I ever saw in you! Do you know what it's like in our dimension? Do you have any idea?"

"More than you know."

"Oh, really! Then you know what it's like to watch your entire planet fall and be helpless to stop it! You know what it's like to run like a coward, to leave behind everyone you knew knowing that you'll probably never see them again! To meet someone who, against all odds, seems to understand, and to never be able to admit it to anyone! Do you know what that's like, Saryn?"

"I know exactly what it's like."

"Then tell me how you sleep at night, because I sure as hell can't!"

"You are a Ranger. You will go on."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you don't have the luxury of giving up. When your world crumbles around you and you can't keep a single piece from slipping through your fingers, you start picking up the dust. That's what Rangers do."

"And how many worlds have crumbled around you, All-Knowing One?"

"Three. Don't tell me I don't know what it's like to be helpless."

"Then why did you run! Why didn't you stay and die with them!"

"I did. I died each time, as you did when you abandoned your planet. But death is the easy way out. Being a Ranger means that you don't get to be a martyr. You have to keep fighting, and if the only way to do that is to run, then you run."

"Running isn't fighting--"

"And if you hadn't run? You would be dead, and your planet would be in exactly the same situation as it is now. Worse, for your deaths--nothing disheartens a planet like the loss of a Ranger team."

"They lost us anyway! We left them!"

"They did not. One day you will return, you will free them, and they will forgive you. You are a Ranger--you can do no wrong. But if you are dead... your planet is still in chains, and there is no one to save it. This is a lesson I learned at terrible cost: _you cannot afford to die. _You must go on."

"Is this how you go on, then?"

"I am here."

"So am I, and you won't even let me apologize."

"If it will make you feel better, then I accept your apology."

"It doesn't make me feel better. No, don't--I'm just saying... I really hope they're all right."

"And I."

"Can you... I mean--well, thanks. The, um... I'm sorry about your world."

"Thank you."

"Saryn... I'm sorry; it's--it's hard to talk to you. Normally, I mean. That wasn't true, what I just said... it did make me feel better. Not about Cassandra, of course, but about--Earth. A little."

"Cassie."

  
"What?"

"I call her Cassie. Not Cassandra."

"Cassie... That's pretty. I kind of like it."

"You would."

"Was that a joke?"

"Perhaps I found some small amount of humor in your response."

"Wow. That almost makes me feel good."

"Dare I ask why it is hard for you to talk to me normally?"

"We're... um, not on very good terms, in my dimension."

"I find that difficult to believe."

"It's--kind of a long story."

"As you will."

"Well, it's like this. You and Jenna are all that's left of the Elisian team, and TJ and I have been together for years. I... even if I did feel something for you, I could never admit it. Our teams are pretty fragile already. All we need is something like that--"

"Something like what?"

"Like... like us."

"Is there an 'us'?"

"No! Of course there isn't. I just mean--"

"There should be. Never be afraid to give up who you are for who you can become."

"Saryn..."

"I do not pretend to understand the situation. All I know is what I feel now, and I know that you will feel it too if you suffer a similar loss. Holding yourself apart from him will not ease the ache if something happens to one of you."

"It's--it's not us we're worried about. It's TJ and Jenna."

"This is not your dimension, so perhaps it will mean nothing to you. But TJ is involved in another relationship, and Jenna has given us her blessing."

"Did you ever lie to them?"

"Did you?"

"We didn't mean to! It's just... one night, we were alone, and..."

"I see."

"It was a terrible thing to do, and it wasn't fair to anyone, but we swore it would never happen again--"

"And it did."

"How did you know?"

"We kept our secrets here, too."

"Really? What... what happened?"

"Ashley found out. Then Zhane. Cassie told TJ herself. Andros also found out, and someone must have told Carlos. I have come to the conclusion that one simply cannot keep secrets on a Ranger team."

"Oh... I think you'd be surprised."

"Are you disappointed?"

"No! Yes... oh, I don't know. No. I want it to stay a secret, because he does. But--I don't like it."

"It is difficult to hide all the time."

"It's more than that... you're--he's--we're horrible to each other, Saryn! I don't even know how to talk to you because I spend so much time hurting him! Even when we're alone, we don't talk like this... we don't talk at all."

"I... don't know what to tell you."

"I know. I'm sorry. It's not your problem."

"But it is--allow me to think for a moment."

"'As you will.'"

"Very amusing."

"What? I like the way you talk."

"Cassie mocks my patterns of speech as well. Recently she became convinced that I write thesauri in my spare time."

"You're the first person I've ever heard say 'thesauri' instead of 'thesauruses'."

"So she told me."

"Weird... I guess we're more alike than I thought."

"Perhaps that is what will salvage your relationship with your Saryn."

"...What?"

"I, too, tried to hold myself apart from the one I loved. I convinced myself that it was the right thing to do, and that the pain it caused was in my own mind. I avoided Cassie as best I could. When encounters could not be avoided, I tried not to speak with her more than was absolutely necessary."

"Why...? If things are so different here--"

"My reasons were no more valid than I suspect yours are. The point is that it was not solely my decision, and for Cassie's persistence I will be forever grateful. She became irritable and impatient with my reticence, and finally she confronted me in a situation I could not escape. She... made me see the flaw in my reasoning."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"So you're saying it's up to me?"

"I'm saying that I love you, and I will do anything to make you happy. If I believe that our separation is what you want, I will not fight for you. But all it will take is your word, and I will do anything you ask."

"My word... on what?"

"The specific words are of no consequence. Say that you want me. Or that you love me. Or even that you hate me, but that a particular thing will make you happy, and you shall have it."

"I don't think I've ever told you, but... I--I do want you, Saryn."

"As oddly pleasing as it is to hear you say that, I am not the one you must convince."

"Oh! I'm sorry... I'm really sorry. That was--strange."

"It is my own fault for speaking as though I am him."

"You--you're really good with words. It's like... hearing poetry, or something."

"And your voice is like a song I wish would never end."

"Now you're teasing me."

"Perhaps. But only to see you smile."

"Do you flirt with everyone like this?"

"Do you consider it flirting for a man to tease his wife?"

"Do you have to answer every question with another question?"

"Do you not find it endearing?"

"No; I find it really annoying!"

"Ah, my mistake. I suppose you will take it out on your Saryn the next time you see him. Please give him my sympathies."

"You--!"

"Do not strike me, or I may do something we will both regret."

"I... I don't think I'd regret it."

"Then remember that when you see your Saryn again. Please--just go."

"Saryn?"

"Yes?"

"You said you were pretending to be him. But you... you're hers. You're so--hers. And he's not mine, not at all."

"I do not doubt that you are utterly wrong."

***

"So, what's it like being a Ranger?"

"Oh--hey, Carlos. What's up?"

"What's up? I come here all the way from another dimension, and all you have to say is 'what's up'?"

"Um... you're leering, Carlos."

"And you're beautiful. Is that a problem?"

"It might be for your girlfriend. She's not looking too happy over there."

"My girlfriend? You mean Ashley? We broke up a long time ago; she doesn't care."

"Uh, yeah. Not Ashley, Carlos."

"Then who? What are you talking about?"

"See the pretty alien glaring at you from the corner? That'd be her."

"What... Aura?! You're kidding! I thought she was looking at me strangely..."

"You know, if you could keep your voice down, you might make a few less enemies."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I don't want to be on Aura's bad side, so stop smirking at me like that!"

"Fine, fine... are you happy?"

"Don't sit so close. I mean it, Carlos."

"Women! Anything else I can do for you, Your Highness?"

"Actually, could you hand me that book over there?"

"No. I want to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Tell me about this Aura chick. How do you know her? What's she like? Any deadly hobbies I should know about?"

"Sword fighting."

"Are you serious?"

"Totally. Don't tick her off."

"Right... so how do you know her?"

"She's a Ranger for Aquitar."

"Yeah, I guessed that. Did you meet her after you became a Ranger?"

"No--I met her after you dumped me for her."

"What!"

"I guess I threatened to dump you, come to think of it. I can't remember if we decided who was dumping who that night."

"What night? We broke up?"

"I've been trying to subtly point you in that direction, yeah. The night you came to my window at two in the morning and asked me what it meant to be in love."

"I remember that!"

"You do?"

"Sure! That was the night I proposed."

"Umm... no, not so much. Not that it doesn't sound romantic, but--" 

"We broke up that night?"

"Yeah."

"Over Aura?"

"Kind of."

"I hate her."

"Would you keep your voice down!"

"No I won't keep my voice down! Why on Earth would--"

"Then I'm leaving."

"Wait--okay, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, all right? I'll be quieter. Tell me what happened?"

"I already did. We broke up, you begged Aura to forgive you for being so dense, and eventually she listened. After you saved her life a couple of times. And begged some more. And chased her all over the Ranger dome... did I mention the begging part?"

"What, was I under a spell or something?"

"The spell of love, Carlos. You're totally smitten with her, so try not to screw things up for your double too badly while you're here, okay?"

"What could I do? He's already screwed his life up enough for both of us!"

"If it's any comfort, he's probably thinking exactly the same thing about you."

"At least I'm with the right girl!"

"...Thanks? No, that's probably not the right word."

"How do you feel about this Aura thing?"

"I think you're both loud, stubborn, adrenaline junkies, and you probably deserve each other. I also think I've never seen anything quite as funny as you teaching her how to water ski last summer. Especially since she doesn't sink."

"Aliens."

"You don't have to sound so disgusted. Some of my best friends are aliens."

"But you're not dating them!"

"Are you sure?"

"Are you messing with me?"

"Yeah. But it's so easy!"

"Shut up."

"There's the Carlos I know and love!"

"Aha! You do love me!"

"Not as much as I love my cat!"

"I can work with that..."

"Not unless you grow fur and pointed ears, you can't. Now go bother someone else for a while. I want to talk to Tessa."

"And I want a decent meal and a large bed in a dark room with my wife, but the magic lamp isn't granting wishes today. Tell me how I met Aura."

"If I do, will you go away?"

"I'll think about it. Start talking, woman."

"Shut your mouth, boy, and maybe you'll learn something."

***

"Thanks for your help, guys."

"Thanks for yours, J--Justin."

"Sure. See you in the morning, guys."

"Get some sleep, man."

"'Night."

"Good night."

"...Do you think he's shorter in this dimension?"

"Zhane!"

"I'm just asking. He looks shorter to me."

"No, I don't think he's shorter. This is why we need sleep."

"Because you can't remember how tall JT is?"

"Because you think it matters!"

"So you admit there's a difference!"

"There's no difference! They're exactly the same height!"

"Shh... I think Ash is asleep."

"Not with the racket you made opening the door."

"Hey, I'd like to see you do better! Who uses actual locks anymore?"

"They do, obviously. At least in the guest quarters."

"Do you think they left us toothbrushes?"

"Do you see 'omniscient' written on my forehead?"

"Come a little closer and let me look. Mmm... nope. No writing there."

"That feels good..."

"Zhane's patented headache cure. I bet you'd be less stressed if you didn't frown so much."

"And you'd be less goofy if you didn't clown around so much, but you don't see me complaining."

"Since when am I goofy?"

"Since you started wondering whether JT is taller than Justin."

"There's nothing goofy about that. That's a profound metaphysical question involving the variability of the spacetime continuum from one multiverse to another."

"Please don't say things like that this late at night."

"Sorry... hey, we have toothbrushes!"

"What color?"

"That's what you're worried about? We escape the Dark Fortress two seconds before it blows the Megaship to pieces, we have no way of warning Eltare, much less getting back ourselves, and you want to know what color your toothbrush is?"

"I'm a detail person. What can I say?" 

"They're both white. You either get the one with the cool 'Staraway' logo or the other one with the cool 'Staraway' logo. Which will it be?"

"When you put it like that, it's a tough call. I guess I'll take the one with the cool Staraway logo."

"An excellent choice, if I do say so myself."

"Thought you might."

"Your toothbrush, sir."

"...Too bad they don't have complimentary pajamas, too."

"Don't make me laugh while I'm brushing my teeth!"

"Sorry."

"...Shower, or no?"

"Too tired."

"That's not what you said last night."

"'Last night' was two days ago. Maybe three."

"Was it really? It's easier if you stop keeping track."

"I'll argue that in the morning."

"You all set, then?"

"I wouldn't move from this spot if Kerone herself knocked on the door."

"That would be weird."

"Don't remind me. Can't get my mind around it."

"Well, that's what this little switch is for. See--presto! The world goes away."

"Darkness... my friend."

"Move over. I'm not walking all the way around the bed in the dark."

"Lazy."

"You should talk! Roll over or I'm lying on top of you."

"Is that a promise?"

"You're so romantic when you're almost unconscious."

"Mmmph."

"Sorry. Take your hair with you."

"Hey..."

"Kidding. Where's my kiss?"

"So pushy..."

"Yeah, because Red Rangers are never--mmm. That's better..."

"Shh. Trying to sleep."

"...Andros?"

"Mmm."

"It's been a hard day, you know? Or days, or whatever... I just want you to know--I'm glad I didn't lose you."

"...Me too."

"Love you."

"Love you more."

"Shut up."

"You started it."

"Go to sleep."

"I was trying!"

"Is it always my fault?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"I love you."

"I know."

_fin_


	21. Unresolved II

__

Disclaimer: Between the "Forever Red" dialogue and the multiple Turbo tie-ins, I'm on a roll. I'm just waiting for Wild Force characters to show up. "No thanks. I've already got a penguin." BV-SOTPR. "Even if the voices aren't real, they have some good ideas!"

****

Unresolved II  
by Starhawk

"Justin is going to kill you," Jay remarked conversationally.

The moving shadow on the static-filled comm screen was working just as hard as he was to keep the channel open, but they had audio and that was a vast improvement over nothing. JT's voice came back, laced with extraneous noise but no less exasperated for the distortion. "Tell him to get in line."

"That bad, huh?" Justin was due back in Co-Op within the hour, but Jay intended to page him as soon as they had reliable communication. "Are you reading this as grid interference?"

"Worse," JT said curtly. "And yes, but we can't get rid of it without--"

"Losing the link," Jay finished. "I'm cutting it out anyway."

"Don't--" The screen cleared abruptly and JT's image stared back at him. Jay chalked up one more hypothetical confirmation as Justin's double demanded, "How did you do that?"

"I think the grid connection is what's making them switch," Jay said, checking the log to make sure it was recording properly. "We're using it as an anchor, but each Power conduit is so Ranger specific that it can't exist in multiple forms in the same dimension. Not unless it's shared, the way Justin's and mine is, or the Psychos and the Astros."

"You're still stuck on that repelling idea, aren't you." JT was frowning, but not in disagreement.

"Only in the sense that leaving a conduit empty creates a vacuum in one dimension and an overload in another. The grid must be switching Rangers to balance things out. Maybe it's messing up the keycomms because we've disturbed the equilibrium somehow."

"But how are you keeping the comm link open without the grid anchor?" JT wanted to know.

"We already have a Power anchor," Jay reminded him. "The Rangers that switched. Maybe using the grid on top of that is causing some kind of feedback."

There was a flicker of amusement and a knowing look in JT's eyes. "You just made that last part up, didn't you."

Jay grinned unrepentantly. "Yeah, I did. But I think the grid balancing act is real. It could have caused the illusion of consciousness swapping at first, and it would explain why the Rangers switched this last time but the Megaship didn't."

"So we can't transfer Rangers from one dimension to another unless..." JT frowned again. "Unless what?"

"I don't know," JT admitted, belatedly remembering to page Justin. The computer flashed an acknowledgement as he added, "But it does mean that we can transfer anyone intradimensionally as long as we anchor in a dimension that doesn't access the grid."

JT's eyes widened as the implications of that sank in. "That's true! Jay, you're brilliant! We might be able to make this work after all... maybe we can do some de Sitter tests once the generators on this end are back online!"

"If the generators on *this* end survive switching the Rangers back," Jay retorted. "How's Cassie doing?"

JT sobered abruptly and shook his head. "She's stuck here. Linnse says she's not in any shape to transfer again until after her children are born."

Saryn must be a much calmer person in this other dimension, Jay reflected. It was the only way JT could have thought such a suggestion was remotely feasible. "Leaving her there isn't really an option," Jay warned.

"Yeah, well, it's not my first choice either," JT shot back. "But if those twins still have the slightest chance of being born healthy, I don't want to take it away from them."

Jay hesitated, taken aback. "I didn't know it was that bad."

"Cassie almost didn't survive the last transfer," JT said bluntly. "I don't think Linnse told her how close she came to not making it. The twins definitely can't do it--as if they're not messed up enough already. Linnse says it's like the shifting is pulling them apart."

"Is that possible?" Jay asked, searching his own face for more whatever JT wasn't saying. "The twins don't have an equivalent in your dimension... what if the grid takes Cassie to replace Cassandra but doesn't latch onto the children she's carrying?"

The expression on JT's face told him that the idea wasn't a new one to him. "It's possible," he agreed. "Linnse suggested that too."

There was silence for a moment. "What about the others?" Jay asked at last. "How are they?"

"Carlos is gone," JT said with a sigh. "The others are keeping their heads down, though. We made them fly patrols the first day they got here because there wasn't anyone else, and they did fine. What about with you?"

"They're were all right once we got them all together and figured out what was going on," Jay answered, frowning. "What do you mean, 'Carlos is gone'? Where is he?"

"If I knew, I'd bring him back," JT replied testily. "He took off for Aquitar yesterday and I've lost all contact with him. I can't teleport him, transfer him, or even talk to him, because every scanner I turn on Aquitar says it doesn't exist."

"It doesn't exist?" Jay repeated. "How is that possible?"

"Hell if I know! I've run every diagnostic I can think of, but the scanners are working fine. The whole planet is just gone."

"You're losing planets now?" A third identical voice joined the conversation, interrupting from somewhere over Jay's right shoulder. "First Rangers, now planets... if your entire dimension suddenly disappears, don't expect us to come looking for you."

"Thanks for the thought," JT said wryly. "I hear you want to kill me."

"I thought about it, but I'd have to fight people more determined than I am for the chance." Justin dropped into the chair next to Jay, stretching his arms out over his head as he leaned back. "Jay's page said our Rangers are all safe in your dimension?"

"How did you do that?" JT wanted to know. "I didn't even see you page him!"

"I type fast," Jay answered, amused by his incredulity. "Everyone except Carlos," he added, for Justin's benefit. "Apparently JT's misplaced him. And Cassie's okay, but not healthy enough to transfer."

Justin abandoned his stretch and shot Jay a dismayed look. "You're kidding. The twins?"

"Not so good," Jay admitted.

"So Cassie can't come back... what did you do with Carlos?" Justin demanded. "Was he on the planet you lost?"

"I didn't lose it," JT grumbled. "It's just not there anymore. Carlos left for Aquitar last night, and this morning the whole planet is gone from our scanners. Just vanished, like it never existed. I talked to Karen a few minutes ago, so your Rangers will probably be showing up in Co-Op any second."

Jay exchanged glances with Justin. "You're braver than we are," he remarked with a rueful smile. "I'm not sure we dare unlock the door."

"I did it when I came in," Justin said with a sigh. "It may have been a mistake."

"Look, I'm not sorry I saved my friends' lives," JT told them. "But I didn't mean to make so much trouble for you guys, and I never wanted to hurt Cassie. I hope to everything good that those twins are okay."

"Us too," Justin said quickly. "You did what you had to, JT. Either of us would have made the same decision; you know that."

Jay nodded in agreement. "Let's work on fixing things instead of worrying about what's gone wrong. If our Rangers are on the way, we'll call yours up here too. I don't know how many transfers the generator can take--"

"But we know we can do at least three before something shuts down," Justin finished, sharing a grin with Jay. "So let's send Ashley and Zhane and TJ and see what happens."

"Excuse me," JT interrupted indignantly. "You don't get to keep Andros; you have each other! Send him first and keep TJ. He probably wants to be with Cassandra anyway."

Justin made a show of reluctance, and Jay chuckled. "It's only fair," he pointed out. "Besides, at least we won't have to deal with Andros and Zhane snipping at each other over the keycomms if something goes wrong."

"I was just thinking the same thing," Justin admitted, the hint of a grin tugging at his mouth. "All right. You guys work out the calibrations; I'll call the others."

***

__

Ranger barked impatiently, and she tore herself away from Saryn to rescue the poor dog from his would-be tormentors. The yellow lab gave her a reproachful look for her laughter, but she couldn't help it. With one child trying to catch his tail and the other chewing on his ear, he made a pathetically comical sight.

"Cassandra."

She lifted one twin to her shoulder and glanced back at him, smiling at the look in his eyes. Saryn held out his arms and she passed their little girl to him, bending down to rescue Ranger from the boy. They would take them out to the courtyard and let them play before the day got too hot--

"Cassandra, wake up."

This time when she turned she felt the sheets move with her, and she frowned at a blurry world so far removed from the harsh desert sun. Where--Eltare. TJ was trying to rouse her, but there was no way to leave such an idyllic vision gently. Disappointed, she struggled to push his hands away and sit up.

"I'm awake," she mumbled, running her fingers through her hair so it fell in her face. She didn't want to meet his gaze right now, not with the dream of Saryn so fresh in her memory. "What's going on?"

"Justin says they've established contact with JT." He sat down on the bed beside her, reaching out to brush her hair back. "You all right?"

"I'm fine." She drew away abruptly, turning to hide her eyes. "Tired. Did JT say... the others? What happened?"

"They're okay," TJ told her.

She lifted her head, not sure she had heard right. "The other Rangers? The ones from this dimension?"

"Yeah," he said, a smile in his voice. "They're okay. Justin says he can start switching us back this morning."

She spun, eyes wide, and he pulled her into a grateful hug. She laid her head against his shoulder, pressing her lips together as tears pricked her eyelids. "They're okay," she whispered, as much to reassure herself as anything. "They're okay."

"They're alive and well, and we're going home," TJ said softly. "It doesn't get much better than that, Cassandra."

She closed her eyes, hearing Saryn call her "Cassie" once more. Maybe it didn't get better than that, for TJ. Could it for her?

Did she have any right to want it to?

***

The chime of the comm woke her out of the most restful sleep she'd had in days, and Ashley muttered an acknowledgement to KERI before it could wake anyone else. When the computer didn't answer, she sighed and reluctantly rolled out of bed. Her eyes weren't even all the way open when her feet hit the floor, but finally the fact that she wasn't on the Megaship registered.

Padding over to the comm, she rubbed her eyes clear with one hand and silenced the chime with the other. "This is Ashley," she told the comm, glancing around surreptitiously. No, of course they hadn't woken. The two of them could sleep through the destruction of a planet.

"It's Justin," JT's face answered. "Come on up to Co-Op; we've got JT on the line and he says he wants you back."

"You--but--can you transfer us? Is he all right? What happened to your Rangers?" Justin looked about two seconds from breaking the connection, and the questions tumbled out as she tried to force her thoughts into some kind of coherent pattern.

"He's fine, our Rangers are all right, and we think we can switch at least some of you back. It's kind of a long story. If everyone comes to Co-Op, we'll only have to tell it once."

"Right," Ashley said quickly. "We'll be there in a few minutes. Thanks, Justin."

"No problem," he said, deadpan.

She turned away from the comm, a smirk that wouldn't be suppressed sneaking onto her face. They looked so peaceful--and there was all that extra space at the end of the bed. Zhane did it to her all the time.

She had three steps to get a running start, and then she leapt onto the bed with enough force that she bounced. Giggling, she threw her arms over her head as she laid back, lying across their legs even as Andros bolted upright. "Good morning!" she called, tilting her head to look upside down at him. "Time to get up!"

He narrowed his eyes at her, and she barely had enough time to roll away before he lunged forward. Her mad scramble didn't last long, though, as his arms wrapped around her from behind and pinned her to his chest. She struggled, laughing, but he was too strong, and soon she was giggling in earnest as he tickled her mercilessly.

"Well, isn't that a pretty sight," Zhane's voice drawled, and through the curtain of her hair she could see him propped up on his elbow at the other end of the bed. "Makes a man grateful to wake up in the morning!"

"Justin called," she gasped, trying to stop giggling long enough to get her message out. "Wants us--to meet him... Andros! Mercy!"

"Mercy," Andros grumbled, releasing her at last. "Like I got a chance to change your mind when you were leaping on the bed! 'No, sorry, I'd rather stay asleep.' It doesn't work that way, does it?"

"He wants us to meet him in Co-Op," she managed, ignoring his feigned grumpiness as she tried to draw a normal breath. "He says the other Rangers are all right; they didn't die and JT can switch us back!"

Zhane sat up, taking his pillow and hitting Andros with it almost absently. "That's what you get for ambushing first and asking questions second! Do the others know?"

"Justin said he'd tell us the whole story when we got to Co-Op," Ashley offered, shaking her hair out of her face and twisting her tank top back into place. "He must have already called them, or maybe he's doing it now."

"Or maybe they're sleeping peacefully the way we're not," Andros remarked, sliding out of bed with a good-natured glower for her.

Zhane threw his pillow this time, but Andros was fast enough to deflect it before it could reach him. Ashley used the distraction to launch herself at him, and when she knocked him onto the bed Zhane joined in, yelling "Tickle fight!" over the sound of Andros' yelp. Ashley was laughing as hard as he was, and for several long minutes, there was no war.

***

TJ and Cassandra were already out by the time he emerged from his room, and he waved as he jogged down the hallway to join them. "Hey," Carlos greeted them, glancing over his shoulder automatically. "Where are the others?"

The next door down slid open even as he asked the question, and Zhane stumbled out into the hallway to the sound of giggles. Andros and Ashley were right behind him, making it clear that he had been pushed. Zhane shoved Andros into the wall, looking away innocently when Ashley laughed and linked her arm through his.

"Morning," TJ offered, amusement in his voice. "Justin told you?"

"He told her," Andros replied, slapping the back of Zhane's head as he took Ashley's other arm. "She woke us up--" He poked Ashley, and she nudged him back with her elbow.

"And here we are!" Zhane finished. They were obviously in high spirits, and Carlos couldn't help smiling. Just seeing them together and happy improved his mood immensely.

"Do you think he told the other Rangers?" Cassandra asked, ducking under TJ's arm as he held the lift door. "The ones here, I mean?"

"Probably," Carlos said, gesturing for the Giggle Trio to precede him into the lift. "They want their Rangers back as much as we want to be home."

"I'm so glad they're all right," Ashley said fervently, making room for him as he joined them in the lift. More idly, she added, "I wonder if they think our friends are as weird as we think theirs are."

"Their friends are way weirder than ours," Carlos informed her.

"It's not even a question," TJ agreed, grinning.

"I don't know," Cassandra said, surprising him. "They're not so bad. And you have to admit, it's nice to be someplace where people don't worry about ground troops and evacuation plans all the time."

"What does everyone think about Kerone?" Zhane put in. "Don't give me that look, Andros; you're thinking it too."

There was an uncomfortable silence, and finally TJ said, "To be honest... I can't help thinking she's taking them for a ride. I mean, come on--Astronema just happens to be Andros' long lost sister? That's crazy."

"But she's really nice!" Ashley exclaimed. "She doesn't *seem* like Astronema. Sure, she looks like her, and she even talks like her--but she doesn't act like the princess of evil. She acts like someone who wants to help."

"And she's a Power Ranger," Cassie pointed out. "She went on a quest with Andros and Ashley and Zhane and that other guy--Ty? The Power chose her. That has to count for something."

"She says she's a Power Ranger," Carlos corrected. "She's a sorceress. She can make them think whatever she wants."

"Come on, Carlos," Ashley protested. "You have to believe *someone* sometime. And it's not impossible, right? She could be your sister, couldn't she, Andros?"

The lift was quiet again, the hesitation broken by their arrival on the Co-Op level. When the doors opened, it was obvious that Justin had not only contacted the other Rangers, but he had contacted them first. Kerone was among those present, and Andros didn't say a word as he straightened from the back wall where he'd been slouched.

As the Red Ranger walked out of the lift, though, he reached up and silently tapped his locket. Carlos frowned, puzzled, his gaze automatically seeking Kerone as he followed the others into Co-Op. She and Saryn were over by the main comm screen, talking to two people that Carlos couldn't tell apart--

He saw it when she turned. A silver chain flashed around her neck, the black beadwork making the familiar pendant look both exotic and unique. It wasn't unique, not really, but the illusion was so convincing that he hadn't even bothered to look at it the day before. 

She was wearing Andros' locket.

***

"Clearly, I am not adequately conveying the impracticality of the scenario you suggest."

"No, you're conveying it just fine. We understand the impracticality, Saryn. What I don't understand is what you expect us to do about it."

"I want to speak to Saryn."

"What?"

"I want," Saryn repeated carefully, "to speak to Saryn."

Justin and Jay exchanged glances. He still wasn't entirely sure which was which, but there was no mistaking the confused looks on their faces. "Why?" one of them asked.

"Because what I expect you to do about this situation can not be done without his permission."

This time, their shared confusion included JT. After a moment of silent deliberation, however, the Blue Ranger from the other dimension shrugged slightly. "He should be back by now. I'll tell him to come up to Co-Op."

"Saryn?"

He caught his breath, ignoring the odd look that JT gave him. "Cassie?"

"Your Rangers are here," JT said, unnecessarily. He did something to the panel in front of him and the field of view expanded rapidly. Cassie was standing behind his left shoulder, her presence making the background bustle seem insignficant.

"Are you all right?"

She smiled, and he realized they had spoken at the same time.

"Linnse says I could be better," she said honestly, when he nodded at her. "I feel all right, but I guess she doesn't think I should transfer again. How are you doing?"

He couldn't help a small smile at the obvious concern in her voice. "Probably not much better than you think I'm doing," he admitted, studying her through the comm screen. "I will not allow you to stay there."

"I knew you wouldn't," she agreed. She didn't bother pointing out the reasons she had to, or all the things he couldn't do about it. "Somehow Linnse thinks she's going to convince you by keycomm."

"You wanted to see me." Saryn's voice broke into the conversation, though it wasn't clear whom he was addressing. He must have already been on his way to arrive so quickly.

"I want you to transfer here," Saryn told him. He noted distantly that his double wore black, not red, and that Cassie might as well not have been there for all he paid attention to her. "I wish to switch places with you temporarily."

"To what end?" the other Saryn wanted to know.

"That I may bring Cassie safely back to our dimension."

His double looked skeptical, and the contemptuous look he shot in Cassie's direction made Saryn's fists clench. "If that is your wish... My patrol resumes in 23 hours. Will that be enough time?"

"More than enough," Saryn agreed coldly. "Justin?"

"What are you going to do?" Justin didn't look convinced in the slightest, and Saryn suppressed a sigh.

"I'm a voyager," he told the other Ranger. It was still strange to say the words aloud, but he had been forced to come to terms with a lot of things recently. "I don't have to know what I'm going to do. I just have to know what I want. 

"I want Cassie," he added, as though it wasn't obvious. "And I want her here. Right now. So unless you have a staggeringly logical reason why I should not, I'm going to go get her."

Jay held up his hands in a gesture of surrender, but Justin only shook his head. In the end he would do it, not because he had been convinced, but because it would get Saryn out of his hair. Saryn knew that and didn't particularly care. There were advantages to having a reputation of being someone with whom no one could reason.

"We're ready when you are," JT said, glancing up from whatever he had been doing. "If you want to send Saryn first, and then Andros and Zhane, that'll work for us."

"You got it." Jay looked over his shoulder to catch Saryn's eye, and he nodded.

The experience wasn't that much different from teleporting, except that there was no colored rush of Power. He didn't get much further than the obvious before it was over, and suddenly Co-Op was filled with unfamiliar people and the crush of minds was disorienting. It took him a moment to realize that some of the noise was physical, not mental.

Then Cassie was in front of him, and most of the intensity receded as she wrapped him in a fierce hug. "I'm so glad to see you," she whispered, her emotions slipping in between his and making her words ring with sincerity.

He held her just as tightly, closing his eyes in a silent prayer of thanks. "I, too, am more glad than I can tell you," he murmured. "Not until this morning was I certain that you still lived."

He felt her flicker of alarm, and she squeezed him harder. She didn't say anything, but the understanding between them spoke volumes. He couldn't lose her, not now. Maybe not ever. And she knew it.

"You could stay," she whispered suddenly. "Stay here, with me. We could patrol, and--"

"You are not staying on a planet besieged by the forces of evil." He kept his voice soft enough to keep anyone from overhearing, but he would not accept that as a possibility. "You are coming back home where you belong."

"Did you borrow Kerone's magic wand?" Cassie murmured, turning her head to nuzzle his cheek. He was aware that they were drawing more than their share of covert stares, but Andros' transfer helped absorb some of the excess attention, and to be honest he wasn't all that concerned with his reputation in a place he would likely never see again.

"You switched places with Cassandra even though you no longer hold the Astro Power." He was thinking out loud, ignoring her skepticism, and she murmured in agreement.

"I guess it's still stronger in me than in Tessa." She didn't draw back, but she brushed his hair off of his shoulders with a sigh. "She only morphed that one time, after all."

"If that lingering imprint is enough to transfer you," Saryn murmured, "then we ought to be able to duplicate the effect in our children."

"Really?" She sounded doubtful, and his embrace tightened for just a moment.

"Believe, Cassie," he whispered in her ear. "Sometimes that is all it takes."

He felt her relax just a little, and her words made him smile. "I've always believed in you."

When he stepped back she let him go, but he felt every eye in the room turn toward them when he knelt in front of her. Anyone who had been pretending not to watch before this had abandoned the charade and was now staring openly. He tried to block out his awareness of the others, and it was easier when he laid his right hand on Cassie's stomach.

The Power flared even before he touched the crystal around his neck, and he frowned. The healing ability was something he and his teammates channeled rather than controlled, and he didn't like the idea that it had activated without conscious thought. There was something seriously wrong if it was flowing into Cassie without prompting.

It seemed longer than the seconds his mind told him had passed, but the Power gradually receded. He felt Cassie's fingers cover his, and when he looked up he saw her mouth the words _thank you._ He smiled, and she squeezed his hand briefly.

He rose, more convinced than ever that this would work. He kept his hand on her stomach, resting his other hand on her arm as he stepped around behind her. She leaned back against him automatically, and he didn't even have to try to get JT's attention. The Blue Ranger, like everyone else in the room aside from the un-transferred Astro Rangers, was staring at him with unconcealed surprise.

"We're ready," he told JT. "Send us back."

The calm certainty that he and Cassie had created between them must have touched the others in some way, for JT only hesitated a moment before relaying the message to Justin and Jay. Andros and Zhane were already gone--or back, depending on how one looked at it--and Saryn vaguely remembered some concern over the number of consecutive transfers that would be possible. The last thing they needed, however, was more interference from him, so he turned his attention to more pleasant curiosities.

With the Power split between the four of them, he found himself aware of the twins in a way he never had been before. Their distress at their mother's recent stress was all too obvious, as was the fact that the presence of the Power was completely overwhelming them. He wondered if pregnant Rangers ever remained active.

Co-Op flickered. With no more ceremony than that, he found himself surrounded by a more familiar mental hum as the transfer was completed. Cassie was still in his arms, and though he felt her cringe in anticipation, there was nothing but a queasy twinge as they switched dimensions.

"You believed," he whispered, as she sighed quietly in relief.

Resting her head against his shoulder, she murmured, "Now you know why."

***

He wasn't sure who was more surprised when he finally activated his communicator: himself, or JT. Carlos hadn't been sure it would work at all with Aquitar phased the way it was, and JT's response was nothing short of incredulous. But the promised extraction was almost instantaneous, and he found himself in Co-Op without a hint of the pain that had accompanied his first trip.

"That was an improvement," he remarked, before he realized that the others were all there too. "Hey, where did everyone come from? What's going on?"

"Where did *you* come from?" Andros demanded.

"Did you just transfer him?" Zhane asked JT. "Why were you talking to him over the comm?"

"Carlos!" Ashley launched herself at him before he could ask anything else, and he wrapped his arms around her automatically. "The next time you decide to go halfway across the universe, tell someone first!"

"I did," he protested, patting her back awkwardly. "I told JT. He knew where I was."

"He couldn't get in contact with you! He said Aquitar was gone! What were we supposed to think?"

"Yeah, man, what happened?" TJ wanted to know. "We thought we were going to have to go without you."

"Go where?" Carlos let Ashley go when she pulled away from him, and he glanced from her to TJ and back again. "What's going on?"

"Jay and Justin got the transition thing working again from their side," Ashley told him in a rush. "Andros and Zhane already switched back and Saryn came to get Cassie and I'm going to kill you for not telling me what you were doing!"

He chuckled at her vehemence, secretly relieved by the welcome. After hours on Aquitar where his "friends" seemed to want him dead--or at least gone--almost as much as the enemy did, it was better than he had expected to have people caring about him again. And... they could go back?

"What did you just say?" he wanted to know. "Switching? Does that mean what I think it means?"

"Go," she said impulsively, pushing him toward JT. "Before something freaky happens and the generator burns out or the planets un-align or something."

"But--" He caught TJ's eye, and the other Ranger just nodded. He looked to Andros and Zhane instinctively, before he remembered what Ashley had said. "Good luck," he told them instead, and Andros nodded.

"You're going to tell me what you did with that planet," JT informed him.

When Carlos opened his mouth to answer, JT gave him an infuriating smirk and cut him off. "But not today," he declared triumphantly. "Go annoy the Rangers in your own dimension!"

Co-Op shifted from bustling to almost calm in a matter of seconds, and the shift was more than disconcerting. Carlos tensed, immediately defensive, but there was nothing but familiar faces wherever he looked. And one in particular--

He held out his hand without thinking, and Aura took a single step in his direction before stopping. Her hesitation was obvious. He said the first thing that came to mind. "Did you convince him to cut his hair too?"

It was not quite the most nonsensical thing he could have come out with, but a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She held out her hand and they met each other halfway, fingers twining together as he grinned down at her. "You don't know how good it is to have you not wanting to kill me," he said with a sigh.

"Don't be so certain," she said sharply, but her eyes echoed his own relief. "Your double was extremely obnoxious."

"Hey!" He feigned hurt, but he couldn't get the grin off of his face. "Your double isn't exactly Sunshine Bear, so careful with the accusations!"

"'Sunshine Bear'?" she repeated, giving him a skeptical look.

Carlos laughed, lifting one hand to caress her cheek affectionately. "I'll tell you later," he promised, running his finger across the violet accents under eyes. "I missed you."

She frowned at him. "I'm told you stole my planet."

"Only to protect you," he said hopefully.

"You said I tried to kill you," she reminded him.

"Didn't stop me."

Aura relented at that, a real smile playing across her face. "In that case," she murmured, tilting her head toward his deliberately, "I missed you too."

He leaned down to kiss her, not caring who saw.

***

She wasn't the last, but TJ sent her the same way she had sent Carlos and moments later she was engulfed in Kerone's enthusiastic hug. Ashley laughed, hugging the other girl in return. Between Andros and Zhane, it seemed like it had been days since she'd dared to be so affectionate with any of her friends.

"Ashley," Kerone whispered in her ear. "Do I remind you of Astronema?"

Ashley laughed again, hugging her tighter as she whispered back, "Yes. But only in a good way."

Then Zhane was there, demanding to know why he hadn't gotten the same reception from Kerone. "I got here first," he complained, prodding Ashley good-naturedly. "And she's my girlfriend! How come I'm not first on the hug list?"

With a giggle, Kerone let go of Ashley and threw her arms around Zhane. "It's so good that you're back," she cooed. "My poor Zhane, all alone in another dimension! It must have been terrible for you!"

"That's better," Zhane agreed, looking absurdly smug. "It was hard, but I endured for you. I do it all for you, my darling!" So saying, he caught and spun her around, bowing low in a dramatic dip that Kerone accentuated by throwing her head back.

Ashley burst out laughing, and there was scattered applause from the rest of the control room. The two of them continued to ham it up, prancing around in a barely passable imitation of the tango, while out of the corner of her eye she saw Justin and Jay watching with twin expressions of amusement. She assumed their attention meant that they had already transferred TJ--then she saw the comm screen behind them.

It had been set to show as much of JT's Co-Op as the cameras could encompass, and the lit "widescreen" bar over the monitor told her that the opposite was also true. JT, and anyone looking over his shoulder, was seeing everything that happened in the room. She couldn't help smiling to herself, wondering what JT's dimension thought about "Astronema" clowning around with one of the Power Rangers.

"It's good to be home," Andros said quietly, and she glanced over at him in surprise.

He too was watching Zhane and Kerone, and whether he expected any kind of response was debatable. But Andros didn't talk to himself, so she offered tentatively, "Feels like we never left."

"Maybe," he said with a sigh.

She wasn't sure she should ask, but she couldn't ignore him. "Andros... are you all right?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing. I'm glad everyone's safe."

"Hey," Ty interjected awkwardly. "I know I haven't known you guys very long, but... welcome home."

Relieved at the interruption, Ashley gave him her brightest smile. "Thanks, Ty. Did we miss anything important?"

"You missed me trying to overcome hero worship for people who had no idea who I was," he said dryly. "That was fun. And then trying to get your doubles to talk to Kerone--that was even better."

"Why did you want them to talk to Kerone?" Andros asked suspiciously.

Ty shrugged, gaze flicking from Ashley to Andros. "I thought maybe if they knew what Astronema was really like, they could... I don't know, get her to switch sides. Talk her away from Dark Spectre or something."

"Kerone isn't Astronema," Andros informed him. "And you can't just interfere in their lives like that. It's not our job to tell them how to do things."

"So Carlos wasn't interfering when he went to Aquitar?" Ashley frowned at him, thoroughly exasperated with his attitude toward Ty. "Or Saryn, when he showed their whole dimension what he and Cassie could be like together? No one tried to screw things up for them, Andros, but we can't help who we are."

"We were there!" Andros exclaimed. "Tixe wasn't! He could have kept his mouth shut and not gotten involved!"

"He was trying to help!" She tried to moderate her tone a little when she realized how loudly she was speaking, but it wasn't easy. "There's nothing wrong with introducing people to someone who might be able to save their world, all right? How would you feel if Zhane hadn't told you about Astrea?"

"That's not the same thing," he insisted. "This is none of Ty's business."

"He's a Ranger!" Ashley cried. It was like trying to talk to Andros those first few weeks on the Megaship, and she felt an eerie sense of déjà vu. "Like it or not, he's your teammate, and you can't keep shutting him out like this!"

The similarities obviously didn't escape Andros either. "Why does everyone expect me to suddenly love Tixe? I went days at a time without speaking to any of you when *we* first met, and compared to that I think I'm doing pretty well! Especially since none of you stole my best friend!"

Ashley winced, too aware that they were now the undisputed center of attention. That last comment was not going to go over well, and she wondered what in the world had prompted Andros to say it. It wasn't like him to admit something like that when anyone could hear.

"Well," Zhane remarked, breaking the silence with a lightness that sounded forced. "Now that I know I've been stolen, I want to know why no one's doing anything about it. I mean, have the authorities been notified? Do I get my own search and rescue squad?"

"I'll rescue you," Kerone volunteered quickly. "How many people do you need for a squad?"

"In your case..." Zhane pretended to think about it for a moment. "Probably just one. Unless you can get Ash to help you," he added. "The more beautiful women, the better."

Kerone smirked, and Ashley managed to summon an answering smile. Skipping over to Zhane, she took his arm and leaned against his shoulder in a half-hug. "Count me in!" She didn't dare look over at Andros, but she caught Kerone's eye just as the other girl winked.

"Why did Zordon think it was a good idea to recreate them?" Jay asked Justin. He spoke loudly enough that everyone in Co-Op could overhear, and Ashley heard someone snicker. She glanced around covertly, but she couldn't tell who it had been.

"I think it was something about having a backup team in case their one-liners got so bad that he couldn't take it anymore," Justin replied, with perfect equanimity.

"Oh, like your humor is so sophisticated," Carlos put in. 

"This from the man who was a vampire for Halloween," Aura murmured.

He gave her a mock glare. "Whose side are you on?"

"Look, as glad as I am that you're all safe," JT's voice interjected from the comm, "I've been trying to go off-shift for a while now. Is there anything you need that's more important than my sleep?"

"To thank you," TJ said. He had his arm around Tessa's shoulders, and he looked completely serious. "I know the whole transition thing didn't work quite the way you expected, but it did work. Your Rangers are safe. We're safe. And it's because of you."

"Hey," Justin objected. "What am I?"

"Chopped liver?" Jay finished. "A little recognition here!"

Ashley giggled, knowing only the old Turbo Rangers would get the joke. She felt a twinge of nostalgia and tried to ignore it. She had spent most of high school waiting to graduate; she wasn't going to start wishing herself back there.

But things had certainly been easier then...

"Thanks JT, Jay, and Justin," Tessa said, a smile in her voice. "And congratulations on your experiment."

"Nothing like an unannounced field test," Justin remarked.

"You're welcome," JT said pointedly. "Good night." The comm screen flickered and went dark, effectively ending his participation in the conversation.

***

"Did I mention that I have a lab report due on Monday?"

"I think it came up once or twice." Karen didn't move from where she was lounging at the back of the Aquitian pod. "Why? Would you rather be working on that than cruising around between galaxies?"

Tessa made a face. "When you put it like that, no. Of course not."

"It's just that on Monday, when you're sitting in lab without a report to hand in, you'll wish you were cruising around between galaxies," TJ interjected wryly.

"Something like that," she agreed with a smile. "It's not that I begrudge the time spent trying to rescue you or anything--"

"I do," Carlos interrupted. "Stop taking up my study time with your need to be rescued, TJ."

"Perhaps if you used your study time to study, you would have more room to complain," Aura informed him.

"And if you didn't need to be rescued just as much as TJ," Karen added.

"Thanks for putting up with us, Tess." TJ lifted a hand to catch hers as she paced by him for the third time, pulling her into his lap with a rueful smile. "It was nice of you to come when you really didn't have to."

"Oh, of course I had to," she sighed. "I'm sorry for complaining. I know you went through a lot worse in high school."

"Hey, it's hard to be a good student and a Ranger," TJ protested. "We had DECA to help us, and Justin before her. Sometimes it still didn't get done... I guess you learn to prioritize."

"By having pizza parties?" she asked, poking him gently in the ribs.

He exchanged sheepish grins with Carlos. "I thought we needed some refreshments for our debriefing?" he suggested, and she shook her head.

"Nope, sorry," she told him. "Not buying it."

TJ grinned and relented. "Okay, so I want to catch up with everyone on KO-35. They were gone for months even before this dimension thing, and Andros and Ash are still arguing. Maybe we can get them to talk if they're with friends."

"Plus Cassie and Saryn look like they could use at least a week's vacation," Carlos added. "I bet they'll take any time they can get away from Elisia right now."

"You are more sympathetic than is usual," Aura remarked lightly, and he just shrugged. 

"Is Max going to mind having a zillion people crash his house?" Karen asked, coming to Carlos' rescue. "I know you guys have an open-door policy, but this is kind of pushing it, don't you think?"

"Is it still Saturday?" TJ wanted to know. "Because I'm pretty sure he was going out Saturday night. Besides, he owes me for last weekend."

"Oh, come on," Tessa said with a giggle. "That was fun."

"If you like colonial reenactments," TJ retorted. "I'm still not sure why we had to be involved in the duels."

Aura glanced over at them. "Duels?"

"Don't get any ideas," Carlos told her.

"I want Hawaiian pizza," Karen announced out of nowhere.

"Veggie," Carlos countered, not missing a beat.

"Everything," TJ said firmly.

Tessa laughed, shaking her head. "Is extra cheese too much to ask around here?"

"Everything with extra cheese!" TJ declared.

"Absolutely not," Tessa informed him. "And I don't want any of Aura's shrimp, either!"

Unperturbed by the assertion, Aura didn't even look up from the pilot's console. "More for me," she replied over her shoulder. "ETA to Earth is one quarter."

_fin_


	22. Undercurrent

__

Disclaimer: BV-SOTPR. CDC? Abracadabra! Thanks to Amy for calling me on the "first kiss" remark, and to Lenni for insight into Andros' character. This series has taught me not to believe everything I think.

****

Undercurrent  
by Starhawk

"Hey, it's Jeff. I saw Ash the other day--she tried to catch you guys, but no one was home. We're both back on Earth now, and we'll probably be at the Carters' place for a while. I know she wants to see you before she leaves again. I'll try to stop by too... Give us a call here when you get in, okay? Bye."

There was a knock as Jeff punched the "off" button on the phone, and he turned to find TJ hanging on the doorframe. "I'm taking pizza orders," he said with a grin. "What do you want?"

"Pepperoni." Jeff tossed him the phone and TJ caught it one-handed. "Nice catch," he remarked, mildly impressed. It was easy to forget that TJ's coordination came not just from the Power, but from a long history of baseball and, more recently, the martial arts.

"Can't talk you into everything, huh?" TJ just shook his head, not waiting for an answer. "We have thirteen people here, and I think we need thirteen different kinds of pizza."

"What does Jeff want?" Carlos' voice called from the kitchen. "Can we order already? I'm starving!"

"So am I!" Zhane added. "I haven't eaten all day!"

"It's your teammates that are holding us up," Jeff pointed out, following TJ back into the kitchen. "Ash probably wants veggie, but I have no idea what Kerone eats."

"She doesn't," Zhane and Ty said at the same time. They smirked at each other, and Jeff gave them a second look. The two of them... He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something strange about the way they acted with each other.

"Ash will have extra cheese," Zhane added, correcting him. "Same as Andros. Kerone can have some of mine if she's hungry. Are you going to call, TJ, or do I have to take the phone away from you?" 

"I'm calling," TJ promised. "Someone go see if Cassie needs anything."

"Cassie is fine!" she called from around the corner. "Thanks!"

"I'm going to try to get some news," Jeff announced, to no one in particular. "I don't understand how you guys keep up with anything, going from planet to planet like this."

"It's getting away from anything that's hard," Zhane told him.

Jeff just stared at him. "You have a spaceship," he reminded the Silver Ranger. "Instant disappearing act!"

"Sure we have a spaceship," Zhane said with a grin. "Unfortunately, so does everyone else. It only gets you so far."

Jeff glanced over at Andros, expecting a comment, but he was staring out the porch door and apparently paying no attention to the conversation. Ashley had walked out the moment they arrived, without a word to anyone, and Kerone had followed her. Jeff had assumed things would be awkward, but this silence was deafening.

Carlos seemed to think so too. "Andros is pretty good at it," he remarked, ignoring the fact that TJ was trying to have a phone conversation. "He's the one who sent you all off on that quest, right? Maybe he could give us some tips."

This time, there was no doubt that Andros was ignoring them. He reached out and clicked the latch on the glass door, sliding it open and stepping outside without a word. He closed the door behind him pointedly.

Zhane got up to follow, but there was a resigned expression on his face that surprised Jeff. Ashley's description of the situation hadn't exactly been objective, but he hadn't expected Zhane to be as frustrated with Andros as she was. At least, that was what he interpreted the look on Zhane's face to mean.

"Stay," Ty said, stopping Zhane before he could move toward the porch. "I have something I want to say to him anyway."

Zhane's hesitation was barely perceptible. He sat back down as though he was just stretching his legs, and he shrugged indifferently. "Don't kill him," he advised. "It'd be hell trying to find a new Red Ranger now."

Ty didn't look like he thought that was a persuasive argument, but his mouth quirked in acknowledgement. He went around the counter and tugged on the porch door, slipping the latch easily. He hesitated on the other side, then vanished from Jeff's sight as he went wherever Andros had gone.

"So who was that, again?" TJ was the first to break the silence, replacing the phone on its base by the refrigerator. "I heard you guys had a fifth person on your quest--I assume that's him?"

Jeff looked at Zhane expectantly. The story Ashley had told had been piecemeal at best, and he didn't know how much the others had been able to catch up on. He supposed that was what he got for sleeping--he had been on the Megaship when everyone switched, and he hadn't found out what had happened until hours later.

"Ty worked on an agrec crew with Kerone," Zhane was explaining. From the looks Carlos and TJ were giving each other, that didn't mean much more to them than it did to Jeff. "Or his sister did," he amended. "They had kind of a reunion party a few days ago, and that's when we met Ty."

"A few months ago," TJ corrected. "It's been a lot longer for us than it has for you."

"What's 'agrec'?" Carlos wanted to know. "You took someone you met at a party on a Power quest?"

"Agricultural reclamation is going on all over KO-35." Zhane shot a glance at the porch door, then got up and wandered over to the sink. He started opening cupboard doors at random, talking over his shoulder as he did so. "It's a way of cleansing some of the land that was contaminated during the war, so that it can be lived on and farmed again."

"When was Kerone doing that?" TJ asked, frowning. "Is that where she went when she disappeared last spring?"

"Yeah." Zhane pulled a glass out of one of the cupboards and held it under the water faucet. "It's on a volunteer basis, but everyone involved gets room and board for as long as they work."

"So Ty was doing that too?" Carlos still looked skeptical. "But you said you didn't meet him until just before you left. Why did you take him with you?"

"Because he asked to come," Zhane said simply. He didn't turn away from the sink, staring out the window as he lifted his glass to drink. It wasn't like Zhane to avoid someone's gaze, yet Jeff got the impression that was exactly what the Silver Ranger was doing.

"At least he asked," Tessa called from the other room. The girls must have been listening just as closely as they were to Zhane's explanation. "Some of us were conscripted!"

"Join the club!" TJ shouted back. "You won't get any sympathy here!"

Zhane finally turned around, glass of water still firmly clutched in his hand. "How did you guys get to be Rangers?" he asked. He had just the right note of curiosity in his voice, but his eyes gave him away. He was trying to change the subject as thoroughly as possible.

"Now that's an interesting story," TJ drawled, leaning back against the fridge. He caught Carlos' eye again, and the two of them grinned. They were clearly in a mood to indulge. "The second time, we were actually looking for them. But the first time..."

***

He was sitting on the porch steps when he heard the door to the house slide open. "Zhane," he said quietly, not bothering to turn.

"Nope," a voice from behind him countered. "Guess again."

The screen door banged, and an unwelcome presence joined him on the steps. Andros stared out across the backyard, wondering if ignoring him would make him go away. It seemed to have worked with everyone else in his life.

Disturbed by that thought, he muttered, "What do you want?"

"Not sure," Tixe said. The way the door creaked even after it closed said that he was leaning back against it at the top of the steps. "But I can tell you what I don't want."

The way he deliberately mimicked Zhane's carefree style of speech irritated Andros no end, but he couldn't help responding to it. "Yeah?"

"Zhane."

The name brought Andros up short, and he almost turned to glare at Tixe. He kept his pretense of indifference, but only just. He didn't dare open his mouth, though, because anything he said would destroy his careful mask.

"I don't love him, Andros." Tixe seemed determined to break through anyway. "We met at a party. We were drunk. We had some fun together, and that's all."

Andros glared at the ground, unable to sort out his conflicting emotions at Tixe's apparent carelessness. "Just fun, huh? You'd better hope that's all it was to him."

There was no answer, and Andros narrowed his eyes at the grass. Zhane didn't deserve any more hurt than he'd already had. "You must know I'd kill you for stringing him along."

After a pause, Tixe inquired, "There's just no way to win with you, is there?" Rather than sounding nervous, he sounded almost... amused. "If I want him, I'm not good enough for him. If I don't want him, I'm not good enough for you."

Andros swallowed. "It doesn't have anything to do with me," he muttered.

"Obviously it does," Tixe retorted. "You love him, and you can't bring yourself to share him with anyone else."

He jerked his head up, staring at the neighbors' house as though he could burn through the walls with his eyes. "You don't know anything about this," he growled, trying to convince himself it was true.

"No," Tixe agreed. "But I know that you and your girlfriend broke up because of Zhane. And Zhane and I... well, we're not really together yet. But if we never are, it'll be because of you."

"Yet?" Andros demanded. "What do you mean, 'yet'?"

He heard Tixe sigh. "You can't share Zhane with me," he pointed out. "So how can you expect your girlfriend to share you?"

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Andros was on his feet, fists clenched at his sides, and only then did he realize he had to glare up at Tixe. The other boy hadn't moved from the top of the steps, and the height difference between the level of the porch and the ground was considerable.

"No," Tixe repeated, too calmly. "I've already admitted that. But I don't really think you do, either, and if you'd just accept it then maybe Zhane could help you figure it out."

"Don't tell me what to do," Andros hissed. "I've known Zhane my whole life. I don't need advice from you!"

Tixe's tone was casually condescending. "And when was the last time he slept with you?"

He felt the crackle of Power around his fingers, and he didn't have to look down to know that his left fist was glowing crimson. He forced himself to turn away, trying desperately to regain some kind of control. Tixe was baiting him; that much was obvious. But why?

"You said you didn't want him," Andros gritted, staring straight ahead. "So why are you doing this?"

For a moment, there was only silence. Then Tixe said, "I don't know." There was another pause, and he added, "Maybe I took what Astrea said before the quest to heart. Maybe I thought that trying to help each other be happy was something friends do."

The screen door creaked again, and Andros turned his head a little. There was the sound of a footstep scuffing the wooden slats of the porch stairs, and he could see Tixe with his hand on the door handle. "Maybe I was wrong," the other boy said at last. He closed the door behind him and went back into the house.

***

"I don't like this station," Karen argued, trying to wrest the remote control away from Carlos. "The guy who does the weather is creepy."

"The weather's not even on right now," Carlos protested. "Besides, I didn't pick this station; Jeff did."

"Jeff, your station sucks," Karen called. "And Carlos won't let me change it!"

"What do you want me to do about it?" he retorted from the kitchen. "You're more likely to beat him up than I am!"

"Aura!" Karen appealed to his girlfriend. "Tell Carlos to let me change the channel so we can get some non-creepy newscasters!"

Aura looked up from the floor where Tessa was teaching her how to play Solitaire. She studied the TV for a moment, then turned a curious look on Karen. "I do not understand what definition of the word 'creepy' you are using to describe these people."

As usual, Aura's impassively objective response made Karen laugh. "It's the principle of the thing," she explained, but her attention had been effectively diverted. "Hey, has Carlos really not taught you that game yet? He plays it all the time!"

"I do not," Carlos grumbled good-naturedly. "I *sometimes* play it on the computer when I'm bored with homework."

"Which is pretty much all the time," Karen pointed out.

Carlos shrugged. "It's not my fault that professors think I have nothing better to do with my life than finish their homework assignments."

"Like play Solitaire?" Karen suggested.

"Hey," he objected. "How many smoothies have you had this semester, Karen?"

She laughed, delighted. "At least I do something active to distract myself!"

"Walking to the snack bar doesn't count as active," Carlos countered. "Back me up on this, Cassie. I play computer games and she eats. Which of us uses our boredom more productively?"

Snuggled in Saryn's arms on the couch, Cassie was watching the scene in the living room through half-lidded eyes. She smiled at Carlos' question, and she shook her head apologetically. "Sorry," she told him, resting her head more comfortably against Saryn's chest. "You just asked me to side against the only person who eats as much ice cream as I do. Forget it."

"You have an excuse," Carlos retorted. "Being pregnant and being bored aren't on the same level."

"Although they're sometimes connected," Tessa murmured, and Karen giggled.

The porch door slid open, and everyone in the living room looked up to watch Ty let himself back inside. He glanced around, mouth twitching a little as he caught their gazes. "Didn't kill him," he remarked, tossing the words in the direction of the kitchen. "Wanted to, but I restrained myself."

"Thanks," Zhane's voice answered. "Next quantron attack, we'll all be grateful."

"Next quantron attack?" Carlos repeated, frowning toward the kitchen. "Are you expecting another one? What made you all go on that quest, anyway?"

"Andros," Ty muttered, and Carlos raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah," Zhane agreed ruefully, leaning against the counter so he could see into the living room. "Andros talked us into it. But I think he knows something... or suspects it, at least. There's something coming."

"Recent Border intelligence supports that view," Saryn confirmed, not moving from his position on the couch. "There is someone--or something--organizing the remains of Dark Spectre's forces beyond the Border."

"Great," TJ put in, joining Zhane at the counter. "Some new looming threat that will hit just in time for finals?"

Zhane just shrugged, but Saryn shook his head. "I think not. The probability that a serious offensive will be launched in the immediate future is low, and there is no evidence that it will threaten Earth in any case."

"It's not just Earth we're worried about," Carlos reminded him.

"Yeah," Zhane agreed, looking comically indignant. "Whose planet was just attacked? What kind of a worldview do we have around here, anyway?"

"He didn't mean it like that," Cassie murmured. "He's just saying it's probably not another Dark Spectre."

"I wish you hadn't said 'probably'," Tessa complained, rearranging the cards in front of her. "Don't Rangers ever get a break?"

"What do you think this is?" TJ said, grinning.

"This is a pizza delivery whose time is running out." Carlos glanced pointedly at his watch. "Is it free in another seven minutes?"

"Maybe Ashley and Kerone hijacked the truck," Jeff said, wandering through the living room to glance out one of the front windows. "I wouldn't put it past her."

He didn't specify, and Carlos couldn't resist adding, "I wouldn't put it past either of them! They're probably sitting on the hood of a pizza truck somewhere, laughing at us while we wonder where they are."

***

"How do you do that?" Ashley wanted to know, watching another flat rock skip across the top of the pond. "Are you cheating?"

"Probably," Kerone said, shrugging. "I can't tell. I just do it."

Ashley shook her head. "Carlos tried to teach me how to skip rocks once. He's really good at it too, but I never did learn."

Kerone handed her a smooth stone and pointed at the pond. The water shimmered violet for just an instant. "Try it now," she suggested, frowning down at the water. "I want to see something."

Obediently, Ashley tossed the stone across the top of the water. It skipped five, six... seven times before coming to rest on the surface of the pond. She couldn't help laughing. "That's definitely cheating," she told her friend, watching as the water shimmered again and the stone sank like--well, a stone.

"I guess," Kerone agreed, a small smile on her face. "Wasn't sure it would work."

"Is there anything you can't do?" Ashley asked idly. It wasn't as though it mattered, she just wondered sometimes.

"Not much," Kerone said, lifting her gaze from the pond. "Do you think I should take requests?"

Ashley smiled, shaking her head. "You'd just spoil us."

"I'd spoil you," Kerone corrected. "There are people on the team I'm not even talking to right now, let alone doing favors for."

"People?" Ashley repeated, though she couldn't deny the warm feeling that Kerone's support gave her. "More than one, now?"

Kerone made a face. "Just the one, then. But ignoring him takes as much energy as avoiding any three normal people." 

She didn't mean to sigh, but she couldn't help it. "I know what you mean."

Neither of them said anything for a little while, and Ashley's thoughts drifted back to Andros again. In the other dimension, she had felt the old rapport with him and Zhane. For a few tentative hours, she had dared to hope that their friendship, at least, was salvageable.

But then they had come back, and Ty had been waiting. She told herself it wasn't his fault, and in her heart she believed that. It wasn't his fault that Andros became someone else around him... but he did, and it was as disturbing as it was frustrating. Unfortunately, no matter how she fought it, it was easier to blame Ty than Andros, simply because she hadn't known him as long.

"Why did you break up with him?" Kerone asked abruptly. "I mean, aside from the fact that he's selfish, spoiled, and terribly immature."

Ashley smiled involuntarily at her description, but she had more trouble answering that question than she had expected. She wanted to say, "Because he loves Zhane," but she couldn't help noticing who she was talking to. And if it came down to it, hadn't she always known that he loved Zhane? What was different now?

"Why didn't you break up with Zhane?" she asked instead.

Kerone gave her an odd look. "How do you know I didn't?"

Ashley blinked. "I just... I don't know. Did you?"

"No," Kerone said slowly. "But I think it's interesting that you assumed I hadn't. Cassie and Andros both thought I had."

Ashley swallowed, not sure how she felt about that. "Cassie knows?"

Kerone looked as though she was about to say something, but finally she just nodded.

Ashley didn't ask. Kerone had been in an awkward position for quite a while now, and she couldn't exactly talk to Ashley about it. It wasn't surprising that she had turned to one of her other friends. Ashley wondered what else Cassie had thought.

"I didn't break up with him because nothing's changed," Kerone said at last. "He's always loved Andros. It doesn't change the way he feels about me. Or the way I feel about him."

Ashley frowned, hearing the echo of Zhane's words the day before. He, too, claimed that nothing had changed... and just now she had caught herself wondering if things were really as different now as she imagined. Andros claimed he still loved her, after all--

No. "But it *does* change things!" she burst out. "He loves Zhane! He didn't even tell me, and that means he's been lying all this time because he said he's always loved me, and he's never felt this way about anyone else--" 

Her throat closed up and she choked on the words, turning away so Kerone wouldn't see her embarrassment. She didn't understand how Kerone could be so calm about it. Had she known beforehand? Had Zhane told her, and somehow convinced her it was okay?

"Ash..." Kerone rarely used the boys' nickname for her, and it was touching and a little disconcerting at the same time. "Do you really believe Andros lied to you?"

She swallowed hard, but after a moment's hesitation she shook her head. Of course she didn't believe that. Everything they had been through still counted for something. Whatever he and Zhane had felt for each other before, he had been hers when Zhane came back into his life and everyone around them had known it. That hadn't been a lie.

"Then you believe he loves you?" Kerone prompted gently.

"I believe he did," Ashley whispered, not looking at her.

"Always have, always will," her friend reminded her. "You said that wasn't a lie."

She bit her lip, but she didn't answer.

"If he loves you," Kerone said at last, "what does it matter that he loves Zhane too? You love other people: your brother, your friends--"

"I don't want to sleep with my brother!" Ashley cried. "It's not the same thing!"

"How do you know Andros wants to sleep with Zhane?"

Ashley looked up in surprise. "Well... but--he kissed him! Or he wanted to... On the quest."

"So?" Kerone asked practically. "You kissed me that time at the carnival. I've seen you kiss Zhane, too, and I bet you kiss Jeff. Are you going to sleep with all of us?"

"No, of course not..." Flustered, she demanded, "Are you saying Andros and Zhane don't... they don't want--"

"Oh, they do," Kerone assured her. "At least, Zhane does, and I'm guessing that Andros' reaction to Ty means that he does too. I'm just saying that there's a lot of different ways to love someone. There ought to be enough to go around."

"I don't..." She closed her eyes, trying to will the tears away. Was there any way to make her see? "I don't want to be committed to someone who wants someone else."

"But if he wants _you_," Kerone began.

"He doesn't just want me!" she exclaimed. She didn't open her eyes. "He wants Zhane! You said so yourself!"

Kerone didn't answer, and finally she dared to look at her friend. Andros' sister didn't look exasperated, just thoughtful, and somehow that was reassuring. "How come you don't feel like this?" she blurted out. "How come it doesn't bother you?"

Kerone cocked her head, frowning a little. "I don't know," she said after a moment. "I don't know why you _do,_ so it's hard to say why I don't."

Ashley sighed, disappointed. "I guess that makes sense."

They were quiet for a moment, and then Kerone said suddenly, "If it doesn't matter how he feels, then what about how you feel?"

She took a deep breath, lifting her gaze to Kerone's again. "What do you mean?"

"Do you still love him?" Kerone wanted to know.

"Yeah," Ashley said with a sad smile. "Yeah, I do."

"Then why did you break up with him?" Kerone repeated. "If you both still love each other... did he think you should break up?"

"No," she admitted. "He said--he wanted me to... he didn't want us to break up," she finished awkwardly.

"And you didn't want to break up with him," Kerone pointed out. "So why did you? Why can't you just wait and see if things really do change?"

"But they will," Ashley protested. "They already have!"

"Other than loving Zhane," Kerone insisted, "has he done anything wrong?"

Ashley sighed. "I don't think it's _wrong_, exactly--"

Kerone cut her off. "Other than that. Has he done anything wrong?"

"No," she said, very quietly.

"So why break up now?" Kerone pressed. "Why not later? Why don't you give him a chance now, and when he does something later that you're sure is wrong, you can break up with him then?"

She couldn't help smiling, just a little. "That's not very fair."

"Why not?" Kerone demanded.

It was on the tip of her tongue to say, _because I don't know that he's going to do something wrong._ "Because he deserves to know now," she said instead. "I already know that I can't deal with him and Zhane, and I don't want to hurt him by pretending I can and then having to tell him the truth later."

"Can you deal with them now?" Kerone wanted to know.

Ashley opened her mouth, then hesitated. "Well... yes... but right now they're just friends. I couldn't--I don't want to see them... I don't want them to kiss in front of me," she said in a rush.

"But they haven't yet." Kerone paused. "Have they?"

Ashley shook her head wordlessly.

"See?" Kerone said, as though she had known that all along. "Why can't you wait until they do? You can break up with them--with him then."

"Because that's not fair to me," she said quietly. "I deserve to move on too, Kerone."

"But are you?" Familiar hazel eyes stared at her intently. "Are you moving on?"

She stared back for a long moment, a dozen excuses fluttering through her mind. It hadn't been long enough. She hadn't been able to get away. But it would be never be long enough, not really, and she was a part of the team. She couldn't get away--not now, not ever. If she couldn't live with them, she had to quit.

"No," she whispered. "I'm not."

"Then don't try to live without them until you have to," Kerone said softly. "Andros loves Zhane. But he loves you too. Can't you let him? Can't you give him a chance, the way he wants you to? 

"Tell him you don't want him to kiss Zhane in front you and see what he says. Tell Zhane you don't understand how Andros can love you both. Just say _something _to them, instead of breaking up with Andros without telling him why because you're scared of what might happen!"

Ashley swallowed, mustering a small smile for her friend's vehemence. "Since when did you become the 'let's talk it out' girl?"

To her surprise, Kerone actually laughed. "Since I started going out with Zhane, I think," she admitted. "He has these moments when he's really insightful. Not a lot of them, but he does have them."

Ashley sighed, a little relieved that the conversation had taken a lighter turn. She felt like she'd been crying for hours and was only now getting herself together. She hadn't really been crying, of course, but maybe if she were lucky the "getting herself together" part wouldn't turn out to be an illusion.

"Are you okay?" Kerone asked, more seriously. "I didn't mean to... I don't know. I was just trying to help."

"I know," she said quickly. "And you did." She forced a smile. "Maybe I should hang out with Zhane more, and see if any of his insight rubs off on me."

"There's a lot of other stuff to wade through before you get to the insight," Kerone told her, straight-faced. "It's probably not worth it."

Ashley giggled a little. "Well, thanks for the warning."

Kerone bent down a picked up another stone, flicking it across the surface of the pond absently. It didn't stop jumping until it reached the other side of the little pool. Ashley shook her head, not even realizing she'd done it until she caught Kerone's smirk.

"Want to go back?" Kerone asked at last, giving her an appraising look. "The pizza's probably there by now."

"Like you care," Ashley replied promptly.

Kerone shrugged, but she was smiling. "We can avoid them for the rest of the night if you want. But it probably won't get any easier than this. At least with the others around, they have to pretend to play nice."

And no one could say anything too embarrassing. She probably wouldn't even have to answer any questions if she went back now, while the others were there. They would all be too polite to bring it up.

"Okay," she said with a sigh. "Let's go."

***

"Do you have any chocolate chips?"

TJ shot her a wary look. "What do you want chocolate chips for?"

Cassie rested her head against Saryn's shoulder and smiled sweetly. "Guess." TJ raised an eyebrow, and she giggled. "I just want to put them on my pizza. It's better than pickles, all right?"

TJ shook his head, but he disappeared around the corner without another word. Tessa pulled one of the veggie slices free and passed it to Cassie, and Saryn reached over her shoulder to liberate one of the tomatoes before she could take a bite. Tessa laughed, putting a second slice on a plate and handing it to him.

"No," Carlos was telling Aura at the counter. "I'm not trying your disgusting pizza again. Isn't it enough that I eat your food whenever I'm on your planet?"

"Try some chocolate chips," TJ quipped, passing him on his way back into the living room. "I hear they make any kind of pizza better."

"Why is she serving the veggie pizza?" Zhane was asking Karen. "She doesn't even like it."

"I think that's the idea," Karen offered. "She's impartial. She won't hog all the broccoli, like someone else I could mention."

"Excuse me," Cassie interrupted, smiling at TJ in thanks when he handed her a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips. "Broccoli happens to be my favorite vegetable. I'm just making sure my children learn good eating habits young."

"Then you won't be needing these," Saryn remarked, intercepting the chocolate chips. "Perhaps you should have chosen the pickles after all."

She made a face at him. "You're the only person I know who thinks pickles are better than chocolate. Give me those!"

"No," he said calmly.

The sound of the front door opening distracted her, and she craned her neck in a futile effort to see who it was. Saryn looked around too, and she took the opportunity to snatch at the bag in his hand. He was too quick. She stuck her tongue out at him when he turned to smirk at her.

Saryn leaned closer, careful to keep the chocolate chips out of her reach. "Is that an invitation?" he whispered, pressing his mouth to hers before she could answer.

Torn between laughter and breathlessness, she wondered, *Where do you get lines like that?* 

"Contamination from your Earth culture," he murmured. He kissed her again, more gently this time, and he handed her the chocolate chips without further complaint.

"I hope you ordered enough cheese," Ashley was saying, apparently in response to Carlos' greeting. Her cheerfulness sounded forced, but considering the circumstances, Cassie couldn't really be surprised.

To be honest, she wasn't sure what Andros and Zhane were doing here. Well, Andros wasn't really _here,_ but she didn't think he'd left yet either. And even if he and Zhane weren't together--or even, apparently, on speaking terms--their presence obviously wasn't making things any easier for Ashley. It would have been nice if they'd let her have some time alone with her friends.

"Look," Kerone remarked blithely, sliding one of the boxes off the counter. "They got you a whole pizza."

"Hey," Tessa interjected. "Save some for the pizza purists!"

Ashley laughed, grabbing a couple of plates to help Tessa serve. "Half for you and half for me," she suggested, heading over to the counter. "Where's Andros?"

As the only other person with a claim on the extra cheese pizza, it was probably an innocent enough question. But Cassie couldn't help noticing the way she peered into the box as she asked the question, rather than glancing around the room. Ashley must have done a preliminary Andros scan and come up empty, hence her deliberately casual inquiry.

"He's outside sulking," Zhane answered, handing her the knife Jeff had been using to cut his pizza. They caught each other's gaze over the counter, and something indefinable passed between them.

"Just like Andros," Ashley said lightly. Looking back at the pizza box, she asked, "Little piece or big piece, Tessa?"

"Little," Tessa answered from her place on the floor. "I want seconds later!"

"Seconds?" TJ gave her a skeptical look. "You expect seconds? Who do you think you're dealing with, here?"

"Here you go," Ashley said, passing Tessa a plate. "Anyone else want cheese?"

Cassie saw her friend glance surreptitiously out at the porch as she turned around, but Saryn distracted her by reaching over her shoulder again. "You'd think there were no tomatoes on yours," she commented, amused.

"Do you want my broccoli or not?" he retorted. "Fair is fair."

"I'll be right back," Ashley announced, and Cassie looked up just in time to see her sliding the porch door open. She held a plate with two slices of pizza on it, and Cassie frowned a little.

She didn't really mean to get up, but she must have tensed because Saryn laid a hand on her arm. "Let her go," he whispered in her ear.

She turned her head toward him and he kissed her temple. *She has a new team now,* he reminded her. The words slid easily over the surrounding conversation, and it still surprised her that no one else could hear them. *They must work things out among themselves.*

There wasn't much she could say to that. With a sigh, Cassie turned her attention back to her pizza. "All this really needs," she remarked to no one in particular, "is some hot fudge."

"Ew!" Karen exclaimed, and Tessa laughed.

"Are you taking lessons from Zhane?" Carlos wanted to know. "I thought TJ was bad with the ketchup, but this mixing foods thing is ridiculous."

"I was under the impression," Aura interjected, "that one could never have too much chocolate."

"Your source was gravely mistaken," Saryn informed her. "In fact, I believe the opposite to be true."

"Which is why Saryn doesn't cook for me anymore," Cassie put in with a giggle.

"That is categorically untrue," he countered. "Your memory is obviously becoming more selective as your pregnancy advances."

"Ah, the folly of youth," Jeff said with a theatrical sigh. Taking a seat by the counter, he smirked in their direction. "Never insult a pregnant woman."

"I am several years your senior," Saryn reminded him.

"I've heard that before," Jeff agreed. "Supposedly, so is Aura. But no one's ever been able to prove it to me. Your calendars don't mean anything to me, and frankly, you might as well be doing calculus when you start talking about sidereal time or whatever."

"Sidereal time doesn't actually have anything to do with it," Tessa commented, reaching for a napkin. "That's just another way of measuring days. And it's algebra, not calculus." 

Jeff sighed again. "It's people like you that undermine my whole point."

Tessa laughed, setting her pizza down and looking around for something. "Well, let's figure this out. Someone must know the annual conversions, right? We don't really need anything else."

"I have a better idea," Carlos said quickly. "Let's not go there. Isn't there some random card game we could play instead?"

Cassie smiled to herself as TJ and Karen immediately jumped on Carlos, ribbing him about dating an older woman and prodding him to say what the age difference actually was. He maintained that he had no idea, he just didn't see the point, and they accused him of lying. When they turned to Aura, however, she pretended not to hear them, and Carlos looked decidedly relieved.

"Do you know?" she whispered to Saryn, and she felt him shake his head.

"What does it matter?" he murmured in return. "Love respects no boundaries."

"Lucky for us," she said softly, smiling.

***

He should have just left. There was no point in sitting outside all night, but he couldn't bring himself to get up and teleport out. It wasn't that he was trying to calm down enough to go back inside--he wasn't sure he could face everyone now anyway. He just didn't want to be any more alone than he already was.

Andros leaned back against the base of the handrail, staring out at the dimness without really seeing it. He couldn't help feeling like he was back at the beginning, when it had been him and them and the invisible wall that he couldn't seem to reach through. Ashley had pulled him into their group the first time, so determined to draw him out of his isolation that she wouldn't take "no" for an answer.

He had learned then, for the first time, what it meant to have friends in a time of peace. The first attacks on KO-35 had taught him that what you didn't cling to, you lost. His sister, his teammates, his parents... he held onto Zhane harder than anything he'd ever had before, and even that wasn't enough. 

Then there was Ashley, with her school and her family and a thousand things he couldn't control or even participate in. Her friends were no better, with their refusal to let fighting consume their lives. He had watched helplessly as people he came to care about went in every direction, and all he could do was have faith that they would take care of themselves when it came to that.

And they did. They defended not only themselves but their planet, fighting off every threat that was thrown their way and then some. Earth remained free and blissfully ignorant of the surrounding conflict. He didn't have to watch yet another world fall to Dark Spectre. He found that maybe there was a reason to trust in others, after all.

Zhane's revival only reinforced that belief, and he found it surprisingly easy to give his old friend the same space his new ones seemed to want. He could let go, and it was a scary but exhilarating feeling. For once, he depended on something that didn't let him down. He depended on the team.

Andros sighed, glancing up at the lighted kitchen windows. He had a new team now, but it wasn't that easy. The old one had disbanded, pulled apart as much from within as without. He could blame it on the Council all he liked, but the truth was that they had gone their separate ways long before Kinwon decided to recall the astromorphers. What was to say this team would be any more stable?

There was a lot to say it wouldn't, if it came to that. Ty was an unknown element with little to recommend him but his good taste in lovers. Kerone was both adept and powerful, but her ability to use the Power was seriously in question. Ashley and Zhane were both experienced fighters and proven team players, yet he doubted either of them would take orders from him at this point.

Then there was the fact that none of them were actually speaking to him anymore. That made it harder for them to function as a cohesive unit, let alone provide a support system for each other. Somehow he had ended up with a team of friends that was harder to interact with than the team of strangers he had started out with two years ago.

He heard the porch door slide open, and he sighed again. Here he was, reenacting the familiar scenario. They had to come to him, because once again he was too scared to reach out. Did they ever outgrow their old dramas?

"Hey," Ashley's voice said softly, and he looked up in surprise. She caught the screen door so it wouldn't slam, then came down the steps without waiting for an answer. "I brought a peace offering."

His mouth quirked, and he shook his head as she sat down beside him. "You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to," she said, offering him the plate. "Hungry?"

He took a piece of pizza, scooping some of the extra cheese up with his finger as it slid off. "Thanks," he said gratefully. "Are you... how are you doing?" He knew it wasn't the best question, but it was what he wanted to know and he didn't know how else to ask. He wasn't the only one who had vanished from their impromptu party, after all.

She smiled a little, taking a bite of her pizza before answering. "I'm okay," she said at last, glancing over at him. "How about you?"

He swallowed, remembering Zhane's comment about people who were noble and repressed. "Not so good," he confessed, staring intently at his pizza. "I'm--I'm really scared."

Ashley hesitated. "Scared of what?"

He tore off another piece of pizza, trying to find the words. "Scared... that it won't be like it was," he said finally. "The team, I mean. That it's going to fall apart. That--" He forced a smile, trying to shrug it off. "That I'll be alone again."

She set her pizza down carefully, avoiding his gaze. "You won't be," she said, wiping her fingers on one of the napkins she had put under the plate. "You have all of us, and we made a commitment to KO-35. We're not going anywhere."

"That's not what I mean," he said helplessly. The mere fact that she wasn't looking at him only served to underscore his fears. "I'm more afraid of losing _you_ than I am of losing a teammate."

She looked up at that, and their eyes met. She swallowed, but she didn't look away this time. "I... I don't want to lose you, either," she admitted softly. "But--I feel like I already have."

"Why?" he whispered, searching her expression for answers. "What did I do?"

"You--" She tried to smile. "You didn't--_do_ anything. I just feel like... all of a sudden, I'm competing with Zhane or something. But I don't want to. If you guys love each other, then I want--I want you to be together."

"But what about us?" Andros insisted. "Why don't you want us to be together, too? If we love each other..." He braced himself. "Do you still love me?"

"Always have," she murmured, and he held his breath. The silence went on a little too long, but finally she admitted, "Maybe I always will. But--I feel like I can't, now. I don't want to come between you and Zhane."

"You won't," he said fiercely. "I told you that before. Don't you remember, last summer?"

She gave him a half-smile, her gaze wistful. "It's not just that. I don't want him to come between us, either, and... I feel like there's no way to avoid that. I'm so used to having you all to myself, Andros. How can I give that up?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but Tixe's comparison made him hesitate. If he couldn't tolerate Tixe... he swallowed. Could he even ask her to try? Ashley was a dozen times more forgiving than he was, but was it fair to ask more of her than he could of himself?

"You don't have to answer," she said, looking down. "I'm just... I'm just trying to tell you where I'm coming from."

"Please look at me..." He reached out to touch her chin, but she lifted her eyes immediately and he let his hand fall. "I love you. I want to know what you're feeling. I want you to know how I feel, but I can't seem to say it the right way. I--I love you, and I love Zhane, and it was never a problem before. I don't know what I've done to make it one now."

She sighed, but she kept her gaze on his. "You can't tell me you love him now the same way you loved him before. I saw you try to kiss him, Andros. And he wanted you to. That's--that's something that was just between us, before."

"I... we--" He didn't know how to tell her this. "We used to kiss, Ash. Me and Zhane... well, he used to kiss me, anyway. That was just the first time I started it."

Her expression was unreadable in the shadows from the kitchen light. "Over the summer, you mean? Or on the Megaship?"

"No!" He hurried to correct her. "I mean before that, on Rayven. Before he got hurt, and we were the only Rangers. We used to kid around, you know? He would kiss me for good luck before we went into battle... it was just a silly kids' game. It didn't mean anything."

"Didn't it?" she asked softly. Then she smiled a little, but she didn't look happy. "I guess I wasn't your first kiss after all, huh?"

"Not like that," he insisted. "He never kissed me like that! He was always dating some girl or other... you were the first person to kiss me like you meant it. And he's never kissed me since, Ash; I swear I would have told you. Not since he woke up."

"I said I didn't want to come between you," she murmured.

"And I don't want this to come between _us,_" he told her. "I know that's not my decision to make, but please let me try? I don't know how Zhane feels, exactly, but I know he loves you in his own way and I know I need you. At least let me try..."

"Try what?" she said, after a long moment. "Andros, what do you want from me?"

"I want you to be happy," he blurted out. "I want to be with you, and I want you to give us another chance. I want to try and work things out with Zhane, and--and I want you to say our relationship isn't over. I want you to give me some time, is all."

Now she looked down, but he heard her soft sound of amusement and he thought she was smiling. "I think that first part was enough to buy you some leeway," she said quietly.

He blinked, thinking back. "I want you to be happy?" he suggested tentatively.

She nodded, lifting her eyes to his. He had been right; she was smiling. "Yeah," she agreed. "Thanks." She took a deep breath. "I... I can't promise anything, Andros."

When she hesitated, he interjected, "You don't have to. Just--don't say you won't, okay? Not yet. Give us some time to figure things out first."

She nodded once, and he felt like he was breathing easier for the first time in days. He didn't dare say anything else, for fear it would be the wrong thing, but her silent agreement was more than a relief. It was a reprieve against loss and the loneliness that used to plague him until he didn't even notice it anymore. He noticed it now, and he didn't want it back. He would fix this.

"One condition," she said at last, and he realized he had been staring at her.

"Anything," he assured her.

She smiled again, picking up the plate and holding her other hand out to him. "Come back inside," she told him. "It's getting cold out here."

He took her hand without hesitation, letting her pull him up. He followed her up the steps, grabbing the door for her before she could let go of his hand. Once again, she stood between him and the others as they reentered the house, offering a buffer of sorts, but his gaze sought Zhane's instinctively.

The Silver Ranger must have heard them coming, for he was watching them as they stepped through the door. So was almost everyone else, of course, but when Zhane nodded in their direction it was the best welcome he could have asked for. He suppressed a sigh of relief, smiling a little and feeling even better to see the expression reflected back at him. 

_fin_


	23. Truth

__

Disclaimer: "Don't come crying to me when you have to walk ten thousand zords in the rain!" Oops, wrong series. My mistake. What am I writing again? Sometimes I forget... I'm sure it doesn't show. BV-SOTPR.

****

Truth  
by Starhawk

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

Zhane's voice was quiet enough not to carry over the good-natured teasing and farewells taking place on TJ's front steps, but it made Andros flinch nonetheless. Talking with Ashley had pretty much exhausted his emotional quotient for the night. He knew he wasn't up for the entreaty he owed Zhane.

But it wasn't all about him... and there were some things that wouldn't wait. So he nodded to Zhane and stepped away from the group, peripherally aware that both Kerone and Tixe glanced in their direction as he did so. Ashley and Jeff had left hours earlier to see their parents, and the others had gathered by the door while TJ showed Cassie and Saryn how to order pay-per-view movies.

"For the last time," Carlos was protesting. "I did not steal your planet!"

"Did he ever explain where Aquitar went in the other dimension?" Andros asked, keeping his voice low to avoid drawing attention to them. It wasn't what he wanted to say, but he really didn't know where else to start.

"Yeah," Zhane said distractedly. "Something about Cestria invoking the protection of the Eternal Falls... I don't know. I wasn't really paying attention."

Andros swallowed. "I'm sorry I--I ignored you, most of the evening."

Zhane caught his gaze and held it. "I thought you were doing that on purpose. Why?"

"Because I don't know what to say," Andros muttered. "I'm tired, and I'm confused--"

"Coming?" Kerone interrupted, her tone falsely cheerful as she and Tixe walked across the driveway toward them. Carlos and Aura were right behind her, and TJ was closing the door behind him as he joined Tessa and Karen on the steps. 

Kerone looked sympathetic, and he knew she had only spoken so loudly to warn them that the others were no longer distracted. She smiled when he shook his head, but she was careful not to let anyone else see. "We'll see you on the Megaship later, then."

Carlos gave them an odd look, but Zhane precluded any questions by saying firmly, "We're going for a walk. Don't wait up."

Then he turned and headed down the driveway, leaving Andros no choice but to follow him. For once, he was grateful not to have to make the decision, and it was a guilty relief to leave the rest of their goodbyes to Kerone and Tixe. Now if only he didn't have to worry about what Zhane was going to say.

The night was quiet and still this far from the city center, and it seemed to close around them with every step. Andros could barely hear the sound of teleportation as Kerone and Tixe left, and when Carlos' car pulled out of the driveway a moment later it left the street eerily deserted. He wondered how long they would go in silence.

Zhane answered that question for him a moment later. "What did you say to Ashley?" he asked abruptly, lifting his gaze from the sidewalk to stare off into the lamplit darkness.

"What?" It was so far from what Andros had expected that his mind couldn't quite process it.

Zhane must have taken his confusion for defensiveness, for he stopped and caught Andros' shoulder. "I need to know," he said urgently. "I can't watch you cozy up to Ash again after everything I've said and not know where I stand. I thought I could, but I can't. It's not the same anymore."

It all came crashing down on Andros at once, and he fought desperately to keep from shrugging Zhane off. "You're my best friend," he said, trying to keep his voice level. "I love you, Zhane. When did that stop being enough?"

"When you stopped acting like it mattered!" Zhane stopped, taking a deep breath as he let his hand fall. "I'm sorry," he said carefully. "I know you have a lot to deal with right now. But all I'm asking is that you tell me as much as you're telling Ash."

He flexed his fingers at his sides, trying to force them to relax. "I told her that I wanted her to give me another chance," he said evenly. "I told her I wanted to be with you, but I didn't want to lose her."

"What did she say?" Zhane prompted, when he didn't continue.

"She said she'd think about it," Andros muttered, staring down at the ground. "She said she'd give it some time and see what happened."

Zhane brightened. "That's good! We can make it work, Andros. And if we don't," he added impishly, "me and Ash can run away together and you can hook up with Ty."

Andros looked away. It wasn't half as funny as Zhane thought it was, mostly because the idea of Ashley and Zhane together made too much sense for him to laugh at. They were both carefree, fun-loving, and more innocent than any Ranger had a right to be. What did they need him dragging them down for?

"Hey," Zhane said quietly. "I was just kidding, you know."

"I don't know how to do this," Andros whispered, keeping his eyes fixed on a streetlight until they started to tear. "I can't even handle one relationship. How am I supposed to manage two?"

"Andros..."

He swallowed hard, and he felt Zhane's hand on his shoulder again. But this time the Silver Ranger stepped closer, taking both his shoulders, and when Andros didn't resist he pulled him into an awkward hug. *You're not in this alone,* Zhane promised silently, resting his head against Andros'.

He squeezed his eyes shut, almost crying in relief to hear his friend's voice in his head again. Not since the quest had he had that comfort, and it had been denied to him for so long before that. He hadn't remembered how lonely his own thoughts could be until they were all he had for company.

The hum of a car made him stiffen, but Zhane didn't let him go. They stood together as the headlights swept over them, the car cruised by, and the engine whispered off into the distance. Nothing else happened.

*It's going to be all right,* the Silver Ranger said at last, as though he knew how much Andros needed to hear him speak. He shifted a little, lifting one hand to stroke Andros' hair tentatively.

It was a strangely intimate gesture, and with a rush Andros became fully aware of the situation. It wasn't just his best friend holding him now... it was Zhane. Zhane, who had slept with Tixe only--three nights ago? The central figure in his vision of a perfect life. The one who had driven him crazy with just the anticipation of a kiss...

This was Zhane. Familiar yet not, his presence comforting and electrifying all at once. He was frozen in place, his head on Zhane's shoulder, longing to reciprocate but terrified to move... because this was Zhane.

"Hey," Zhane whispered, grasping his shoulders and pushing him back just far enough that he could meet Andros' gaze. "What's wrong?"

He looked away, uncomfortable with their closeness as he hadn't been before. "You..." Taking a deep breath, he felt a twinge of gratitude that Zhane still hadn't let him go. "You never chased guys before," he said softly.

Zhane might have rolled his eyes. "Cause the only guy I wanted was too dense to know it," he retorted.

Andros forced himself to catch his friend's eye again. There was a question that had been bothering him for days, and only now did he dare hope he could ask without sounding petty. "Why Tixe?"

With a half-smile, Zhane squeezed his shoulders. "Because he looks like you," he admitted. "Even Astrea saw it."

He sighed, trying for exasperation to cover his uncertainty. "Does everyone know?"

"Did you want it to be a secret?" Zhane countered.

"No," Andros said quickly. "That's not what I meant." 

He was having trouble thinking right now. He didn't want Zhane to move, but he didn't know how to let him know. "I just... I want to know how many people are going to tell *me* before we can tell them."

"We?" Zhane repeated, moving a little closer. "What are we going to tell them, exactly?"

Andros shrugged, focusing his gaze on Zhane's right shoulder. He had just been talking to fill the silence, he hadn't really thought ahead to a followup. But now he was trapped, because if he didn't answer it was going to look bad...

"Andros," Zhane said softly. "Look at me or back up, because I really want to kiss you right now."

Slowly, he lifted his gaze. Zhane's blue eyes locked with his, and he was kissing Andros before he even registered what was happening. Zhane's mouth was impossibly gentle, making him feel clumsy all over again as he tried to respond to those feather-light touches. It was a pleasant kind of frustration, but he couldn't help feeling that he was chasing a memory...

His fingers clenched on Zhane's arms without conscious thought. Pressing closer, he captured Zhane's mouth with his and put an end to their play. He was owed some serious kisses after everything that had happened with Tixe, and he wanted to collect _now._

Zhane leaned into him hungrily. The Silver Ranger seemed just as eager to abandon nuzzling for the dance of one open mouth against another, and he wasn't inexperienced. The thrill of that kiss elicited a moan from Andros--and the sound shocked him into pulling away.

"Zhane," he gasped, his eyes wide as he stared at his friend. "I lied to Ash."

"What do you mean?" Zhane's eyes flickered across his face, but Andros didn't doubt that he was listening. "What's wrong?"

"I told her..." He swallowed, unable to tear his gaze away. "When we used to do this, I told her--it was just a game. That it didn't mean anything."

Zhane was quiet for a moment. "Was it just a game?" he asked at last.

"No!" He shifted nervously, unwilling to step out of Zhane's embrace. "Not to me," he added, more quietly. "But... it really bothered her. The idea that we were together."

"Were we?" Zhane searched his expression, apparently unaware of how close they were. "Were we together, Andros? You said you didn't know what to think when we were younger. You said--"

"I know now," Andros interrupted. "Isn't that enough? We're kissing, Zhane! I never thought about it before; it was just what we did. But you..."

He trailed off, embarrassed, and Zhane gave him an odd look. "I what?"

"You make me feel like she does," Andros muttered.

Zhane didn't answer right away, but the hint of a smile touched his face. "It's hard for me to take that as a compliment," he said at last. "But I'm trying, because I know how you meant it."

Dismayed, Andros closed his eyes. "I didn't mean anything by that," he whispered.

"I know." Zhane hesitated, then said quietly, "This won't work unless we can be honest with each other, Andros. All of us."

"I know!" He took a deep breath, then repeated, "I know... I'll tell her. I'm sorry I didn't do it before."

"Hey." Zhane gave him a gentle shake, and his eyes flew open. His friend was smiling at him: a genuine, affectionate smile, the likes of which had been few and far between lately. "We're all doing our best, here. It's hard, but we're trying. A few tough days here and there aren't going to make us stop."

Andros did his best to return the smile. "Right," he said, determined not to prove him wrong. "We'll keep trying."

"That's the Andros I know and love," Zhane said lightly, but the words had a serious note to them that he usually buried. "What say we go rescue Ash from her parents? We'd better get back to the Megaship soon anyway; I hate to think what Ty and Astrea could do if they started to redecorate or something."

Andros' lips quirked, but he stopped Zhane when he tried to turn away. "Wait... don't--can I have another kiss first?" he blurted, trying not to blush.

Zhane's slow grin was all the answer he needed.

***

*Ash?*

She stopped mid-sentence, cocking her head to listen. It was Zhane's voice in her mind, and it surprised her--not just to hear him now, but to hear him at all. She couldn't always talk to him this way.

*Zhane?* she answered uncertainly. *What's going on?*

*Sorry to surprise you,* he said, and she could hear the rueful amusement in his voice. *We were wondering if you wanted to be rescued.*

She glanced around, flashing an apologetic smile at her parents. "I'm sorry," she said, trying to sound sheepish and genuine at the same time. "I forgot what I started to say."

*Yes!* she added silently. *I won't get any sleep tonight otherwise!*

The doorbell chimed, and she tried to suppress a smile. She hadn't realized they were that close. Only then did it occur to her to wonder who "they" actually were... Zhane and who?

"I'll get it," Jeff said lazily, the front legs of his chair hitting the ground as he sat up and set his coffee mug down. He gave her a knowing look as he made his way toward the front door.

"Hi, Andros," she heard him say a moment later, and she breathed a sigh of relief. "Zhane... come on in. We're in the kitchen."

Her mother was already standing up, putting the tea kettle back on the stove. "Hello Andros," she said, smiling over her shoulder at them as they preceded Jeff into the kitchen. "Hi Zhane... can I get you something to drink?"

Zhane glanced at Andros, who shook his head. "Thank you, but no," he said politely. He managed a disarming smile that melted Ashley's heart, and his tone held just the right combination of regret and certainty. "I'm sorry to take Ashley away again when she's just come back, but we're having a strategy session on the Megaship and we need the whole team."

Ashley pushed her chair back quickly, on her feet before her parents could protest. "Sorry," she said, with some amount of real disappointment. "We can't leave KO-35 alone for long right now anyway... we should probably be getting back."

That brought the expected exclamations and dismayed protests, but her parents were more accepting than she had hoped. She had already promised that she would be home for Christmas, if not before, and her parents were careful to include her teammates when they reminded her of it now. Ashley hid a smile at that thought, but Andros gravely thanked them for the invitation.

She managed to get through her parental farewells relatively calmly, but when it was Jeff's turn to say goodbye, he wrapped her in a fierce hug and whispered, "Call me," in her ear. That was it, nothing more, but it was enough to bring tears to her eyes

She hugged him back wordlessly. It was strange, but she thought she was closer to her brother lately than she ever had been when she lived on Earth. She wondered if someday it would be that way with her parents, too.

"You could have stayed," Andros said quietly, as they walked down the driveway toward the street. "We weren't trying to interrupt or anything."

"I know," she said quickly, glancing over her shoulder. The front door had been closed, and there was no one at the window to know that they hadn't immediately teleported away. "I wanted to go, but I didn't know how to tell them. To us it's only been a few days, but to them..."

"It's still weird," Zhane agreed. "It was like that on KO-35, too. Everyone was so relieved we were all right, and it felt like we'd barely left."

"Speak for yourself," Andros countered. "I felt like I lived through two whole lifetimes on that quest."

Ashley glanced over at him, and she found Zhane doing the same thing. They were on opposite sides of Andros, so their eyes met briefly and she smiled. The corners of his mouth lifted in return, and he offered awkwardly, "I guess you kind of did."

Andros shrugged, not missing their silent glances. "Just like everyone else," he said uncomfortably.

"Not really," Ashley said, frowning a little as she thought about it. "I remember the quest, but my vision is kind of... blurry. When I was in it, this was just a dream to me, but now that I'm back--the vision's like a dream. It's harder to remember now than it was right afterward."

"Mine too." Zhane stared down at the ground as they paused by the mailbox, waiting by unspoken consent until someone picked a direction. "I remember how it made me feel, but the actual vision is fading. Again."

That seemed odd to her, but it wasn't until he said "again" that she realized why. "I thought you didn't see anything this time," Ashley said, watching him closely.

Zhane didn't look up. "I lied," he told the ground softly. Then he drew in a shaky breath, lifting his head and folding his arms across his chest. "I'm sorry," he said, meeting her gaze squarely. "I shouldn't have, but I thought it would be better if I kept it to myself."

"What did you see?" she whispered, certain she already knew. There was only one reason he would have kept it to himself.

"I saw Andros," he said. His gaze didn't waver from hers. "He loved me. I don't remember how or why, but we were together and nothing else mattered. 

"That's not perfect for me anymore, Ash," he added, surprising her. "I don't care what some stupid vision said. It's not perfect without you. Andros says you agreed to give him a chance, and that's what matters to me now."

She bit her lip, glancing at Andros. "I didn't promise anything," she murmured, determined not to commit to something she didn't totally understand. Andros wanted to be with her _and_ Zhane? What kind of a relationship was that?

__

The same one it was before, something in her mind whispered rebelliously. As long as they didn't worry what she thought, she had been perfectly willing to accept their close friendship. She had known they slept together, at least in the literal sense of the phrase, and that they had a bond she wasn't truly part of. Only when she had seen Zhane refuse Andros' kiss because of her had she started to worry.

So was she worried for herself--or for them?

She almost smiled at the thought. It would be nice to think she was that unselfish, but she wasn't. If they thought she should be worried, then she was worried. Andros said he and Zhane hadn't been together since the days before KO-35 fell... but she was pretty sure he hadn't told her the whole truth about those days, so how could she be sure he was doing it now? 

"You don't have to promise," Andros said softly. As though he had read her mind, he added, "There's something I have to tell you, though... about me and Zhane. Before he was in hypersleep."

Ashley looked up, surprised at the guilt in his voice. Zhane looked uncomfortable too, and that was enough to convince her that he knew what Andros was going to say. Perversely, that made her feel a little better: at least they felt bad about lying to her.

"It wasn't just a game, was it," she said, proud of how steady her voice sounded. "He meant it when he kissed you."

Andros gave her a startled look, and she shrugged self-consciously. "You don't get that jealous of your best friend's lover. Not even you. But your boyfriend's lover? That I could see."

Andros and Zhane exchanged glances. Zhane, too, shrugged, tossing a grin in her direction. "She's got a point."

"Not even me?" Andros repeated, frowning a little. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"He doesn't think he's jealous," Zhane confided in an exaggerated whisper, and she giggled in spite of herself.

"Why didn't you say something?" Andros wanted to know, giving her an odd look. "If you knew it was more than that... You could have at least told me!"

"Yeah, since he couldn't even admit it to himself," Zhane put in. "Would have made my life easier."

Zhane's attempt at levity didn't change the truth. "I wanted to believe you," she said with a sigh. "All along you've been saying you love me: you always have, will, want to... If I couldn't believe you about Zhane, how could I believe the rest of it?"

There was utter silence for several seconds. She could have counted the number of breath she took before Zhane ultimately waded into the quiet. "I think that's my apology, too," he said with a sigh. "At least one of them.

"You said you didn't know I was serious about you," he told Andros, searching his friend's expression. "You thought maybe I was just kidding around, because I wasn't serious about anyone else back then either. 

"The truth is..." He trailed off, then shrugged helplessly. "I didn't know how to tell you. I'm sorry I expected you to know something I couldn't say."

With that, another aspect of Andros' hesitance began to make sense. When he said he hadn't known--he really hadn't known. Or at least... maybe, as Zhane had said, he just couldn't admit it to himself. She sighed, suddenly and forcibly reminded that Andros had never been very good at reading other people.

"I'm sorry you had to say it before I could see it," Andros muttered, almost inaudibly. "And--" He gave her a miserable look. "I'm sorry I didn't know how to tell you. I'm really--I'm just not good at this, Ash. I'm sorry."

She opened her mouth automatically, then realized she had no idea what to say. "I... I feel like I should apologize too," she said ruefully, mustering a small smile. "This is hard. Like it's not bad enough when you're just trying to make one other person understand what you feel, you know?"

"I'll second that," Zhane agreed fervently, and there was a flash of gratitude in Andros' eyes.

"I'm sorry you had to watch us together for so long," she told Zhane at last. "If you'd said something..." She trailed off, then shook her head once. "I really don't know what would have happened. But I think maybe--I'm kind of sorry we didn't find out."

"Can we find out now?" Zhane asked, giving her a hopeful look. "If we all swear to tell the truth from now on?

"I swear," he added, not waiting for her answer. He lifted his left hand in an approximation of a court oath, and continued, "To always tell Ash and even Andros the truth, except before present-giving holidays. Or when there are practical jokes involved. Or when it will get me out of chores, or--

He danced back as Andros swung at him, laughing aloud. "But whenever it matters," Zhane finished triumphantly. "I swear!"

Ashley couldn't help giggling a little, and Andros caught her eye. "I swear, too," he said quietly... hopefully.

She took a deep breath, her smile fading. "This--this isn't what I'm used to, in relationships," she said, feeling awkward. "But... I'll try. At least for a little while, okay?"

"Okay," Andros agreed, but Zhane gave her a suspicious look.

"What," he demanded. "You don't have to swear? How does that work?"

A smile tugged at her lips again. "I swear to tell the truth," she repeated obediently. Some inner demon made her add, "At least as much as Zhane."

He yelped indignantly, but Andros actually chuckled. "Obviously I'm the only one who's going to mean anything around here," he remarked, to no one in particular.

***

"Galaxy Gliders are approaching from Earth." DECA's voice sounded unusually loud in the otherwise silent holding bay, and Kerone opened her eyes. 

She couldn't see Ty, but she heard him shift and his disembodied voice drifted to her out of the darkness. "Your eyes are glowing." 

She closed them again, willing the magic away, then peeked out from between her eyelashes. "Is that better?"

"I can't see you anymore, if that's any indication." Ty sounded amused, but then, she was coming to realize that he almost always sounded that way. "Should we clear out before they get back?"

"Not unless you want to," she answered, reminding herself that he couldn't see her shake her head. "At least this way they won't be able to sneak past us and pretend nothing happened."

"Good enough." He paused, then added more quietly, "Don't tell them why, okay?"

She shook her head anyway. "I wouldn't."

Three of the jump tubes flashed, casting a shadowed orange glow over the holding bay momentarily. She frowned in the direction of the landing, considering. "We should do something about the color of the Gliders. I thought they'd just change automatically or something."

"The Galaxy Gliders are not directly linked to the Power," DECA offered without being asked. "They are part of the Megaship's original design, and are enhanced only secondarily by their users' status as a Ranger."

Three teleportation streams lit the holding bay, darkness returning only as the sparkles fell away and faded from their forms. Kerone smiled to herself, sure she had caught Andros' startled gaze before the light vanished entirely. She had no doubt that he had gotten used to having the ship to himself again.

"DECA," Andros' voice said sternly. "Lights."

Illumination flooded the room once more, brighter this time and perfectly steady. The surreal nature of the darkness vanished, and she found herself blinking in the renewed light. Across from her, Ty looked just as taken aback.

At first, no one moved. Ashley was the first one to break the silence, taking in their solemn expression curiously. "What are you doing?" she wanted to know.

Kerone didn't move. "Having a séance," she replied calmly.

There was silence again, and she could feel Ty's gaze on her. That wasn't unusual, though, considering the others were regarding her with varying amounts of confusion. She didn't elaborate, though she did have to stifle the urge to laugh. It was only their reaction that made the words funny.

"For who?" Zhane asked at last.

She shrugged, rearranging her legs idly. "No one in particular," she answered. "We just thought we'd have one and see who showed up."

Ashley's peal of laughter caught her by surprise, and she glanced over at the landing. The Yellow's Ranger's eyes were sparkling with mirth. "There really isn't anything you can't do, is there," she said between giggles.

"Has anyone showed up yet?" Zhane asked, right on top of her. He bounced down the stairs with no regard for how many were actually there, an interested expression on his face as he joined them at the table. "Can we help?"

She glanced at Ty. He just shrugged, a small smile on his face, and she took that for agreement. "Sure," she said, moving over to make room beside her. "Have a seat."

"DECA," Andros interrupted, watching Ashley bound down the stairs after Zhane. "Have you detected any evidence of spiritual or supernatural activity in the holding bay?"

"No," the ship's computer replied. "But Kerone assures me that I would not be able to detect it in any case."

Andros narrowed his eyes at her, and Kerone smiled back innocently. "Come on, Andros," she coaxed. "It's just a game."

"Why does that sound familiar," he muttered under his breath.

"Scared?" Zhane suggested, a smirk on his face. "I can think of some dead people who wouldn't have very flattering things to say about you."

Andros frowned at him, but he made his way over to the table without another word. Kerone reached for his hand, and he sighed quietly. Zhane took her other hand, and she saw Andros accept Ty's somewhat grudgingly. Ashley joined the circle between Ty and Zhane, and as her fingers slid through Zhane's the room vanished.

"Dammit!" Zhane's voice exclaimed, echoing oddly through the roaring in her ears. "You'd think we'd get a warning or something!"

"What's going on?" Ty sounded apprehensive, and she couldn't blame him. "Astrea?" he added. "Is this supposed to happen?"

Blinking rapidly in an effort to clear her sparkling vision, she almost didn't notice when her knees folded under her. She heard someone exclaim, "Kerone!" and suddenly there were arms around her, anchoring her as her head continued to swim.

"Stupid morphin grid," she heard Zhane mutter. "It must be doing something to her."

"But it didn't hurt her before!" That was definitely Ashley's voice, almost as close as Zhane's and just as worried. "What's happening now?"

"She didn't have the Power then." Zhane's voice was getting farther away, and she succumbed to the temptation to close her eyes. She wanted to tell them that she didn't really have the Power now, but she couldn't seem to get the words out.

The roaring in her ears intensified, and she could only barely hear someone saying, "Her power is at odds with that which we gave her. She will never wield both simultaneously."

The darkness overwhelmed her, and she was left suspended in a chaotic whirl of almost -sensation. The only thing she was sure of was that she couldn't touch anything--and she didn't seem to be breathing. That had happened, once or twice when she wasn't paying attention, but never had her senses gone haywire like this.

As the thunder retreated, slowly, almost painfully, she winced at the buzz that took up residence just inside her skull. She could feel arms around her again, though, and that was as reassuring as the sound was irritating. She tried to open her eyes and found, somewhat to her surprise, that she could.

"Astrea?" Zhane's concern was unmistakable, and she knew without having to look that he was the one holding her. "Can you hear me?"

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out, so she settled for nodding. It wasn't as easy a proposition as she had expected, but she managed to forestall the darkness that tried to accompany the movement. Some distant part of her mind wondered where Kyril was when she needed him.

Zhane was holding her up, in a mostly seated position against his chest, and Ashley was next to her with a worried hand on her arm. Andros and Ty were crouched in front of them, studying her with equally intent hazel and gold gazes. If she hadn't felt so helpless, she might have smiled at their expressions.

"We're on the Megaship," Ashley told her, as though she couldn't see that for herself. "Do you have your morpher?"

That wasn't really the first thing on her mind, but she shifted carefully and managed to coordinate her fingers enough to draw it out of her pocket. She held it out wordlessly, and Ashley looked relieved. "We weren't sure," she said. "They wanted to take it away from you."

Kerone opened her mouth, determined to make words come out this time. "They?" she repeated weakly, figuring that one word was as good as several in this case.

Ashley lifted her gaze to Zhane's, and she felt the Silver Ranger shrug. "Some manifestation of the morphin grid, I guess," he answered. "They said you knew that you couldn't use the Power, but you didn't tell us."

She managed to nod again, but she still couldn't handle a complete sentence.

"She tried to morph," Ty said, coming to her rescue. "Nothing happened."

"How do you know?" Andros demanded.

"I asked," Ty said simply.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Zhane asked, loosening his grip as she tried to sit up a little straighter. She didn't mind leaning against him, but she didn't have to look like an invalid doing it.

__

It was never topical, she wanted to tell them, but she settled for shrugging.

"They said you couldn't hold the Power the way you are," Andros said, still watching her. "But they said they could make you human again."

She felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. "No," she whispered, staring at her morpher. "You didn't..."

"We told them you were magic," Zhane said quickly. "We said you wouldn't want the Power if it meant giving that up. Is that... were we right?"

Her eyes slid shut in relief. "Did you?" she murmured, clenching her fingers around her morpher.

"Yeah." Zhane sounded uncertain. "No Power for you. Sorry."

Her lips curved upward. "Thank you," she breathed. "You were right."

"Whew." Zhane's relief sounded exaggerated, but she knew he was only covering up the sincere feeling underneath. "You had me worried there for a minute. It's not every day you have to make that kind of decision. For someone else, no less!"

"Thank you," she repeated, her voice gaining strength as she opened her eyes and tilted her head back toward him. "I wouldn't... I wouldn't have gone on the quest if I'd thought I was trading one power for another."

"That's what I thought," Zhane agreed. He gave her a gentle hug before reaching out to touch her morpher. "You get to keep this, but it won't do anything for you except call us. And DECA. Plus it looks cool."

She smiled, lowering her eyes to Andros'. "Thank you," she repeated, holding his gaze. "That must not have been easy for you."

"I already have my sister back," he told her quietly. "I just want her to be happy."

"Besides," Ashley added, "we figure you're still part of the team. You fought all of us as Astronema, so it's not like you need the Power for that. You could even fake the uniform if you wanted to. No one would ever know!"

She glanced down at her morpher again, still smiling. "I'd have to practice," she murmured. "But I probably could."

"What about her zord?" Ty asked practically. "Can she still call it with her morpher? Will it answer?"

"I communicated with mine before we had the Power," Ashley pointed out. "Sort of. Maybe Kerone's will talk to her anyway."

"You'll probably have to learn to use it manually, though," Zhane remarked. "That might take a while."

"You taught me how to fly the Mega Vs," Kerone reminded him, bracing her hands against the floor and sitting up on her own. "I could do it."

"Do you want to?" Andros asked quietly. "We'll all help, but only if you want us to. I know you didn't really want to go questing in the first place... do you want to be a Power Ranger, Kerone?"

She sighed, staring down at the floor. "Now he asks," she muttered, drawing a chuckle from Zhane and a grin from Ty.

"Yes," she added, catching Andros' eye again. "I didn't want the Power because I didn't need it. I didn't want Cassie's morpher because I didn't earn it. I earned this one, though, and I still don't need the Power. But I want to be part of this team."

"Good," Ashley declared. "Cause we want you on it!"

"Plus Ash doesn't want to be the only girl," Zhane put in, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Can you stand?" Andros wanted to know. "Is there anything we can do?"

She reached back and found Zhane's hands as he shifted behind her. "You could--" She gasped as Zhane simply lifted her to her feet as he stood. That was one thing the Power did for them that she couldn't mimic, she thought wryly. They were strong.

"You could get me something to drink," she said, as though nothing had happened. 

Ashley was on her feet immediately, but she let Andros go over to the Synthetron while Ty stood more slowly. "How do you feel?" she asked anxiously. "They said your magic was having a bad reaction because the key wasn't protecting you anymore, but it was supposed to stop as soon as you were out of the grid."

Kerone took a deep breath, nodding once. Her head wasn't pounding anymore, and that alone was worth celebrating. "It has stopped," she assured them. "It's just--taking me a few minutes to believe it, that's all."

***

Zhane perched on the table beside Astrea, stroking her hair fondly as Andros place a mug of hot chocolate in front of her. He watched in surprise as Andros set an identical mug in front of Ty, then headed back to the Synthetron without a word. Since when did Andros know the meaning of the phrase "peace offering"?

"Thank you," Ty said after a moment, craning his neck to follow Andros' path.

"Thanks, Andros," Astrea added, wrapping both hands around her mug.

Andros didn't turn around. "You're welcome," he said, his back to them as he collected something else from the Synthetron. On his return trip, he brought two more mugs, which he set carefully in front of Ashley and Zhane.

Zhane caught his eye and smiled, and Andros nodded before turning back to the Synthetron. He came back with a mug of his own, pausing between Zhane and Ashley to set it down on the table. "Does anyone want marshmallows?" he asked suddenly.

"Ooh," Ashley exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "I'll get them."

Astrea lowered her head suddenly and lifted a hand to her temple. Concerned, Zhane slid his fingers through her hair and started to massage her scalp gently. She sighed, letting her hand fall, and he shook his head as a thought occurred to him.

"Astrea," he said into the quiet. "I just want you to know that as late as this evening I considered you the most uncomplicated part of my life. Then you had to go and confuse me all over again."

Ty chuckled a little, and she let out a breath of amusement. "No one likes to be taken for granted," she said lightly.

"Marshmallows," Ashley announced, placing a bowl in the center of the table. Her tone was muted, as though she didn't want to dispel the tranquility that seemed to be sneaking up on them.

Astrea reached out and helped herself to several, but instead of dropping them in her mug she put them in Zhane's. "Thanks," he offered. She nodded once, enough to acknowledge his thanks but not enough to displace his hands.

Ashley put one in her own hot chocolate, then pushed the bowl toward Ty. "Like you really need hot chocolate to be sweeter," she told him with a smile. "But they're fun."

Ty gave her an "I'll take your word for it" look and retrieved a single marshmallow from the bowl. He held his hand over the rim of his mug and let it roll in, smiling a little as it splashed against the side. "Nice," he said noncommittally.

Zhane saw Andros move out of the corner of his eye, but Ashley was too late to stop him. "Hey!" she exclaimed, glaring at him as he stole the marshmallow out of her mug and popped it into his mouth. He grinned at her, licking the sugar off of his fingers deliberately. 

She sighed, but Zhane could tell she was trying to suppress a smile. "Can I have the marshmallows back, Ty?"

Ty handed the bowl back to her, and she tossed one at Andros before he could duck. "Brat," she accused good-naturedly.

Andros reached for another marshmallow, but Astrea was quicker. She slid the bowl away from both of them, taking two more marshmallows and protecting the bowl with her arm. "No food fights," she told them, adding the marshmallows to Zhane's mug. "It hurts my head."

"Too bad you let TJ keep the kittens," Andros told Ashley. "They would have helped us."

Ashley shook her head, blowing across the top of her hot chocolate. She had been reluctant to leave the kittens behind when she and Jeff left that evening, but they knew TJ and Max now. They were settled, and TJ had offered...

"I don't know," she said, sounding torn between amusement and regret. "They listen to Kerone. It's like mind control or something."

"No, it's not." Astrea's tone was that of someone who had repeated the same argument several times before. "I just talk to them better than you do. And believe me," she added, rolling her shoulders uncomfortably, "they wouldn't be causing any trouble tonight."

Zhane dropped his hands to her shoulders and she relaxed as he started to knead the muscles in her neck. He caught Andros' gaze on his hands, and he stared at his friend thoughtfully. Funny... he didn't look jealous now. Wistful, maybe, speculative, definitely, but not jealous.

As though he had sensed the regard, Andros looked up, away, then back as he realized Zhane had seen him watching. Zhane just smiled, and he would have sworn Andros blushed. The Red Ranger looked away again quickly.

"Do you really talk to animals?" Ty asked unexpectedly.

Astrea didn't answer, and he continued, "I only wonder because the zords have some superficial cat similarities... maybe you'll be able to communicate with them after all."

"That's kind of a cool idea," Ashley put in, swirling her finger in her hot chocolate idly. "Watch Kerone end up with better control of her zord than any of us."

"Watch Kerone end up with more injures than any of you," Astrea muttered under her breath.

Zhane chuckled. He knew she was kidding, but he couldn't resist saying, "Don't worry. We'll watch out for you."

"Great," she murmured, still not lifting her head. "The Ranger that spent two years recovering from a near-death experience is watching out for me. Now I feel safe."

Ashley clapped a hand over her mouth, but her eyes danced with laughter even as she tried to stifle a giggle. Zhane rolled his eyes, but the grin on Andros' face was worth it. They could joke about things now that they hadn't even been able to talk about last year... and oddly, it did make him feel safe.

Andros countered that having the former princess of evil at their backs was enough to make anyone nervous, and Astrea only retorted that he didn't know what nervous was until he saw her in a zord. Ty wondered if that said more about her skill or lack thereof, and Ashley warned him laughingly that he would find out soon enough. 

Zhane just smiled, pulling out a stool and taking a place at the table instead of on it. For once he didn't have to say anything, and it was a good feeling. He had nothing else to hide, no secrets he hadn't already shared, and no ruffled feelings to smooth between the others. Whatever happened now, it would happen with him, not in spite of him.

***

__

"Seeing the world through rose-colored eyes  
Yeah this is my one big chance and I'm going to take it twice  
With the past down below I know love lifted me up here  
So I'll take a breath, kiss the sky, toll the bell  
Cause it's a brand new year"  
  
--SheDaisy   
"Brand New Year"

***

Author's note: Welcome to my revolution! Oh wait, that's the song; I forgot. If I had to write a moral for this series, it would be: put yourself out there, because you'll never be a part of the world if you hide who you are. Sometimes it hurts, and sometimes it rocks. Both are better than neither.

Oh, now I have to thank people? Sheesh. Like it wasn't enough to just write the story; now I have to pretend other people helped. Plus I had to listen to them complain the whole way: "I thought Andros and Zhane were closer than that." "I thought Andros and Ashley were going to get married." "I thought--" See, obviously that's your problem. I never think, and look where it's gotten me.

I'm kidding. About the pretending and the complaining, that is, not the thinking. I really don't. So thanks to Marci, my extremely funny sister who explains the whole series to me, and to Adri, my startlingly patient friend who text messages me at work to remind me what the last story was about.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read, comment, and/or e-mail. Thanks especially to Lenni, who always has something to say, and Amy, the mistress of the broken link. Thanks to the denizens of the Ranger Comm board. No real reason, I just like them.

So "let's make a little noise, cause it's a brand new year!"


End file.
